Instrumentalities
by Dracone
Summary: Sequel to Constant Temptation. It has been three and a half years since the extreme events that touched them all. What does the future hold for them? Just what will this new case mean for the trio and everyone involved with Wammy's? Multiple pairings.
1. Chapter 1

A/N; Disclaimer; Original Death Note isn't mine and I make no profit from this.

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CONSTANT TEMPTATION.

And so it begins. Welcome to the first chapter of the sequel to Constant Temptation. I hope you enjoy it, and I'm overawed that you wanted one.

Please read and review.

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Instrumentalities

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Chapter 1

The car sped down the narrow alley and out into the road beyond, the car it was following was already attempting to zigzag through the traffic and lose its tail. The red saloon car dodged and weaved through the traffic to the sound of blaring horns and the driver attempting to follow it frowned. His eyes narrowed beneath his fringe of red hair as he saw its distance from him, his foot pressed down on the accelerator as he too shot forward, pressing through the spaces left behind by the vehicle in front. Despite the distance that had been between them before, he quickly made it up and tried to sit doggedly on its tail. Not for the first time he felt thankful for his access to Wammy's superior technology; so much of what he used wasn't available on the commercial market. It gave him the edge he needed when it came down to events like this.

He glanced in the rear view mirror as he heard the sound of sirens and realised he had gained a tail. The police had obviously not believed them when they had been told L would bring this man in for questioning. Either that or they didn't care that this man had information about L, the new L that needed to be verified or dealt with somehow before they let the justice system have him.

With a sigh he raised his hand to his ear piece and placed a call, he needed his tail of three police cars gone, or he would end up arrested himself; he didn't want that. The technology that was in his car was also in the cars behind, more than once Matt wished that Wammy wasn't so fair to the justice systems of the world. Surely they didn't need every piece of technology he invented, at least not until they were done with it.

"I have a problem," Matt sighed as the person at the other end picked up, there was a strange sound in the background he couldn't place, but he discounted it. Keeping track of the car in front was too important to get distracted.

"I'm already on it," Mello's voice was filled with his usual pride that crawled down Matt's spine and made him shiver. He could almost see the smirk that had to be adorning his scarred face, "Just keep following him, his heading straight into our trap. I'll deal with your tail. Damn cops."

"What are you going to do?" Matt asked.

"Something reckless," Near's voice suddenly cut into the line, "But he won't listen to me. Of course despite its recklessness it does have a 97 percent success rate possibility."

Mello's laugh resounded down the line at that, almost at the same time as Matt saw the motorbike burst out of the traffic going the opposite way and somehow leave the ground enough to clear the barrier between them. It sped towards him and was gone a second later. Matt glanced in the rear view mirror to see it had stopped and Mello, it just had to be Mello, was levelling a _gun_ at the police cars behind. To his relief the police cars came to a very sudden halt, they had to; all the traffic around them was stopping too.

"He is carrying all the necessary documentation to avoid being arrested?" Matt sighed, flooring the pedal once more and regaining the distance he was losing on the car in front, he gave a growl of annoyance as it suddenly shifted through the traffic and nearly hit three cars. If anyone died today, despite his usual control, Matt wasn't sure he could hold back hitting the driver at least once.

"I managed that at least," Near sighed, "I'm talking to the superintendent now. He resolutely refuses to understand that we _need_ this person in our custody. He seems to think L is taking liberties."

"This is the first time we've ever needed to do this," Matt growled, "Did you mention that? Or the numerous times we have saved the police force from public disgrace?"

"I did," Near commented, "It did not help. He is accusing us of abuse of power."

"Are you still on the line to him?" Matt asked, and his anger was clear in his voice. There was a long pause from the other end of the line, the silence so loud Matt thought he had been cut off.

"I am, but it would not be wise for you to speak to him," Near responded, and the cool logical tone he used told Matt all he needed to know. Near was, in his own subtle way, telling him off for getting too emotionally concerned over something Near could deal with on his own.

"I understand, I'm reaching the road block anyway," Matt whispered.

At the next turning the desperate driver in front tried to make a sharp right, to head out towards the motorway and potential escape, instead he had found the roadblock. His actions had been anticipated and skidded to a stop in the ring of cars waiting for him; the cars and the armed men. Matt came to a stop behind him, blocking his escape with his own vehicle. He knew that they, the trio, as L had far more physical power than the original L had ever had, for Mello was prepared to use the mafia at every turn. Well what had once been the mafia, all that had served in the section under Nicholas had stayed with them even after his death and they had become something similar to L's contact network, if somewhat more powerful.

Matt sighed and stepped from the car, his movements tracked by several men that surrounded him as he moved towards the red car in front. He was not armed himself, but with these men protecting him he didn't have to be, he knew them well. With them at his back he might as well be armed. As he approached, the door opened and the driver at last emerged.

"I suggest you raise your hands or my friends will get a little worried," Matt cautioned, and almost immediately the hands rose well clear of the man's head.

"Hi Matt."

At the voice, and the face he could suddenly see as the driver turned towards him, Matt did a double take. Despite his impressive intelligence even he couldn't quite believe what, or rather _who_ he was seeing. It was E, or rather Earl, one of the old orphans of Wammy's.

"Earl?" Matt gasped, staring at the once housemate of Wammy's, "What the hell are you doing working with the insidious group we're investigating?"

"It's good to see you as well Matt," Earl sighed, "It's been a while."

"It's been nearly four years," Matt said, as he heard the unmistakable sound of Mello's bike quickly approaching, "Why did you vanish like that?"

"Unavoidable circumstances," Earl whispered, and his eyes widened in surprise as a motorbike roared into the clearing, and stopped just shy of him and Matt.

There was no sign from Mello that he had been shocked by Earl being the driver as he flipped up his visor and stared at Earl coolly.

"This is no place to be having a conversation," Mello growled, "We certainly need him in custody now. Tch, what happened to you Earl?"

"I felt I had to broaden my horizons after Wammy's burnt down," Earl sighed, "L obviously isn't all that if his house could fall."

"I _really_ don't like traitors," Mello hissed as the men finally approached to cuff Earl and take him away to the waiting van. His eyes narrowed as Earl merely laughed at him, it seemed E had grown up to become quite the malevolent man. Mello's eyes stayed fixed on Earl as he was led away. At last he muttered, "at least we have his cargo. Whatever he was transporting they wanted it badly."

"How did you deal with the police?"

"Didn't have to, they finally started listening to Near after he actually made a _threat_," Mello laughed, and he flashed Matt a grin.

"He threatened them?" Matt gasped, shifting to glance underneath the car and then in all the usual places, for any obvious signs of booby traps. It wouldn't do to have the car suddenly explode on them, "they must have truly annoyed him."

"Well, more particularly he threatened tipping papers off to the bad book keeping several high level officers have."

"Your bad habits are rubbing off on him," Matt commented, "he-"

Matt never got to finish the sentence as a shot rang out across the square and both he and Mello turned to see Earl crumpling to the floor between the guards escorting him. He was right next to the van which would have kept him out of the path of any bullets.

"Shit," Mello growled, his eyes searching the buildings around them as men rushed to surround them. Neither of them knew how being surrounded in people was going to do them any good now; the shooter had to be _above _them in one of the many buildings and was obviously a very good shot.

"Do you think we're in danger?" Matt whispered, and a second later he discounted it before Mello even answered. If they had been in danger they would have been shot before they had even begun to hide, the shooter would not have waited for his target to be moved away from the two people who had any hope of tracking his position.

"No. No we're not," Mello sighed, and shook his head, "I can't see them, and by the time we search they will be long gone. Fuck it."

"The real question is," Matt murmured, "What was so important about his cargo, or about what he knew, that they had to shoot him?"

"No, the real question is what Near will have to say about this," Mello said calmly, then he saw Matt's expression, "What?"

"Are you two always going to be rivals?" Matt snapped. He couldn't believe his partner could be so callous with the dead body of an old comrade cooling on the tarmac nearby.

...

The trip back to their mansion was a quiet one. Despite their earlier bravado in front of their men neither Matt nor Mello was willing to talk about what had happened. It was the first time they had 'failed' at something related to a task since L had given them his position. They weren't worried about telling Near, for they had already done that in a quick terse conversation that had been a brief summary of events before they began their journey back up the UK to their country manor. No, Matt was simply quiet because of what was happening inside Mello's head.

Matt tried to look at Mello as sneakily as he could, just managing to take in his partner's face out of the corner of his eye. He had never seen Mello look so serious and alert as he drove and Matt knew he had to be brooding. If there was one thing Mello did well it was brood, he would sit with a problem for hours, days, maybe even weeks, and pick it apart and over-analyse it till there was nothing there that resembled the original problem. If there was one thing Mello needed Near and Matt around for sometimes, it was to snap him out of it; else Mello could end up doing something... dangerous.

"We couldn't have predicted that," Matt said at last, trying to go for the logical route instead of the emotional one.

"But we should have," Mello growled, "That's our job."

"Even L wouldn't have been able to predict that," Matt added.

"Yes he would," Mello spat out, and Matt frowned. It seemed Mello was not being at all rational; he didn't like that when Mello was driving.

"But we have proof he hasn't," Matt said softly, "Light was able to kill Higuchi right under his nose, and that was with L _knowing_ he was Kira."

"But-" Mello began, and stopped himself. Finally accepting the knowledge that they had not known the group they had been investigating would have been so serious about silencing a delivery boy, even if it had turned out to be E. This had been a delivery for an underground organisation that had been growing in size for the past year, but had only appeared as an interest in the past few months for the trio. Today's delivery was hinted to be a special package of particular importance to the group, and so the trio had decided they wanted it too. The knowledge that the driver knew something about L had only been an added incentive. However nothing about the group had told them to act in extra caution, nothing had told that the group would be armed with a sniper rifle of such ability in the UK. "You are right Matt, all we need to do is track the group down, Earl working with them is immaterial. We simply have to find them."

...

With a small sigh Near placed the final die on the tower before him and shuffled back; staring at the accurate representation of the skyline of London, down to even the smallest spire. In the past few years his creations had become far more ambitious and time consuming. He always wondered about Matt and Mello's patience with this habit, not once had they mentioned it; he supposed it could only be because they knew that it was part of his stress relief. He twitched as he heard the applause next to him, Matsuda's exuberance always surprised him. Even after more than three years working with the man.

"It's amazing," Matsuda enthused, coming to stand by Near so he could better survey the model. Then he asked rather incredulously, "Just how _many_ dice did you use?"

Near wondered at Matsuda sometimes, the man was capable of some stunning insights that always surprised the trio, yet he always let himself down by his inability to remember certain details... like the number of dice he _himself_ had order for Near. Yet still Near found that he liked having the Japanese detective around, it was nice to have someone around who seemed perfectly happy all the time; for no-one in the trio was that was for certain. Matsuda always managed to put up with all the trio asked of him too, he did everything they were sure Wammy had done for L, and more. Near realised with sudden horror that Matsuda was crouched next to him, still surveying the model and had yet to receive an answer.

"Eight thousand six hundred and fifty three dice in total," Near murmured, "I did not need three in the end."

Near couldn't hold back a small, proud smile as Matsuda gave a whistle of appreciation next to him. He supposed he had a right to feel proud about his creation, it was somewhat impressive. No doubt it wouldn't last long until one of the people around him walked into it, but then it would be time to move onto something new. It was all about the building process for Near.

"What time is it?" Near asked, "Mello said they would be arriving back at seven thirty."

Matsuda glanced at his watch and bit his lip. Near had to hold back a laugh, with that simple motion he already knew that it was either seven thirty or later.

"It's seven thirty-two," Matsuda said, and Near's smile broadened.

"I think I will go and wait for them," Near commented while he padded across the floor in his bare feet towards the door.

"What about the cases I was telling you about?" Matsuda called as he hurried after Near.

"In the case of the murderer in America leaving those messages, his name is Charles Randall, the third on the police's lists of suspects," Near murmured, and he heard the sound of frantic writing. It had not taken many months in the trio's services before Matsuda had become a note taker of some extraordinary quality, "the Drug Cartel are next meeting in Brussels, a particularly inane choice as Interpol are quite a presence there. The weapons shipment for the terrorist group in Eastern Europe is being delivered on Friday and two in the morning at the usual place."

By this point Near and Matsuda had left the large operations room now occupied with dice and were descending the large stairs that led down to the entrance hall of the manor the trio had inhabited after everything with Beyond had come to a close. Sometimes the house would be swarming with people, contacts and the men now employed directly under Mello, but now it was almost deathly quiet. Near hated it, the silence merely reinforced the loneliness he felt without Matt and Mello arrived.

"I still can't believe they shot E," Matsuda sighed.

"I have already explained the reasoning behind such behaviour," Near commented, "No doubt Matt and Mello came to the same conclusions. Though I suspect emotions will be clouding their memories of Earl. He was not a nice person at Wammy's, to have picked the career path he had does not surprise me. To be in the criminal underworld is to be close to death, being killed by your own group could only be expected. He determined his own fate by his actions."

Matsuda was stunned by Near's words, it wasn't often that Near spoke so vehemently about anything that wasn't Mello or Matt. It could only mean that Near was unsettled by the dissatisfactory ending to this aspect of the ongoing case. It wasn't often the trio had to work on something for this long.

All introspection ceased as the front door banged open and Mello entered, closely followed by Matt. The change in Near was immediate, and instead of the small smiles he had been using earlier he was truly grinning now. Then he was actually running forward. The two returning men had barely enough time to realise what was happening before Near was on top of them, drawing them into an embrace.

"Tch, you'd have thought we'd been away longer than a couple of days," Mello said, with a small laugh as he pulled Near close and kissed him gently. He was always gentle with his white haired partner, despite his words. Near said nothing in reply, and was in fact prevented from doing so as Matt chose this moment to kiss him as well.

"We've missed you as well," Matt whispered, as he broke the kiss.

Behind them Matsuda stood completely unaffected by the display, he was well used to the trio being in such a relationship, and could only find it romantic. It was heartening to see the three hard working people before him taking time to be with each other, but then they always did. It was at this point Matsuda's ever present mobile rang.

The trio turned to watch him as he took the call, and gave no sign of impatience as he took in the words.

"Well?" Mello asked as Matsuda ended the call, and he spared the man a small smile. He knew their aide needed some acknowledgement, else he would feel he was being ignored.

"The forensic team have finished searching the car," Matsuda explained, "They're waiting for your call."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N; Well, I suspect this chapter is going to do much to answer many of the questions some of you still have.

Please read and review!

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Chapter 2

_This case is perhaps one of the most intricate, if not well known, of L's cases. It involves the inheritance of a far from meaningless fortune and, in the course of finding the correct heir, put more in danger than one girl's life. Not even L could have known of the family secrets that would have led to an attempt to wipe out the entire family, or the man who had threatened them all; Lind. L. Taylor. Perhaps one of the last men anyone would think capable of murder. This is a story about, love, betrayal and more importantly the bloodiest money imaginable._

...

L sighed as he read over the pages before him. He could not quite believe he had ever agreed to begin this, even if Light had always been quite persuasive. He just hadn't thought anyone would have been interested in such details. He still didn't know whether to be pleased or upset that Light wanted to write about his cases. He was happy because Light, and Jason, had seemed genuinely interested. It had shifted such a weight from his shoulders to be able to talk about such things as well, and to such an understanding audience who could ask for more? He'd just never suspected Light would take things so far.

His partner had first used them as fairytales of all things to tuck Eleanor into bed at night after he had become bored with telling her the usual set of stories. Eleanor heard stories depicting a great hero L didn't see in himself, and doing things that sounded far more interesting and exciting than he remembered. Then Light had begun writing them down which had, at last, led to this. Light wanted to publish them, and indeed had already been given approval by a large publishing group for a series of 10 books. All Light needed now was L's approval, and here was where L's paranoia had stuck him in a rut, so to speak, for once he didn't know what to do. He wanted to give Light what he wanted, he always did, but he didn't want to go against the side of him that had always kept him in the shadows. He wondered which side of them was the more rational.

"You're thinking too hard."

Light's voice started L out of his reverie and he looked up to see Light leaning against the door that led out into the small courtyard where he was sat reading. There was the sound of birds from the nearby trees and the faint tinkling harmony from the fountain out beyond the archway that led into garden. The breeze was warm and L couldn't help smiling at how it ruffled Light's perfect hair out of place.

"There's nothing wrong with my state of thinking," L said nonchalantly and actually let himself relax back on the seat, stretching slightly as he did so, the pages balanced on his flat stomach," I don't even have my knees up to my chest."

"I won't accept the publishers offer if you don't want this," Light commented, and the sudden change in topic actually startled L slightly, it had certainly not been the reply he had been expecting after his stretch, "I only sent them a preview in the hopes that if you knew people were interested you would understand more, and believe people would actually want to read them."

L gave another sigh as he heard the sadness in Light's voice; he knew that learning about his past had been very important to Light. It just hadn't been till now that he had realised just how much. L came to a sudden decision, this was Light after all.

"No. It's alright," L said softly, staring up into the nearly cloudless sky, "You can publish them."

Almost instantly Light was perched on the edge of the recliner, kissing L so vehemently he couldn't help but gasp, the papers falling from his chest to the floor. It was still so unusual for Light to act this way, to act so forcefully towards L. All too soon for L the kiss ended and Light pulled away.

"Thank you," Light whispered, "thank you."

L felt his heart clench as Light smiled down at him. These smiles, so like the ones he had used to charm everyone to his whim, had only resurfaced recently in Light. They made L feel as if he was falling again, either off the chair or in love again L did not know. It was so much like looking at the old, undamaged Light even if the scar on his cheek said otherwise. Without thinking L raised a hand to touch the scar, thumb running along the thin ruckled line before his fingers ran through Light's hair, the auburn strands slipped through his fingers as if they were silk. It showed how far the man before him had come that he simply leant into the touch and his smile widened.

"You do realise that Jason will be out with Eleanor for at least another hour," L whispered, slightly surprised by his own daring.

"I am aware of the time," Light murmured, and his eyes suddenly sparkled with wicked mischief, "and the time that our daughter is expected to return home."

L held back an annoyed sigh at Light's words; he knew full well that his annoying writer of a partner knew what he wanted. With a sudden jerk he reached up and pulled Light into a frantic and desperate kiss that he hoped would tell him all that he needed to know, and stop him from pretending he didn't know what L wanted. When Light shifted to straddle his waist he knew his partner wasn't going to tease him further and he couldn't help but arch up into Light's body, needing to feel more of his lover close to him.

"I'm surprised at you," Light murmured as he broke the kiss, shifting to press another to L's neck before biting down gently with his teeth. L gasped at the unexpected motion and leant into the touch. He wondered what could have made Light more forceful today, but whatever it was he hoped it would stay. Too often Light had been far too worried about hurting L, or doing something L didn't approve of; L hadn't liked it at all. He had enjoyed that side of Light and revelled in it, because it had always been down to him when it stopped, theoretically. Having Light choose when it stopped before it even started, before L even got a chance to say otherwise... it drove L crazy sometimes. He never brought it up though, he hadn't wanted to force Light to try harder and perhaps bring back some old memory that would hurt him deeply.

So when Light bit down harder and began to mark his neck, L couldn't hold back a groan of pleasure a hand rising to hold Light closer. He knew something must _definitely_ have changed when his hand was captured, along with the one that was clinging uselessly to the recliner, and pinned them to the top of the chair. The sudden cry L couldn't hold back at this proved how long it had been since Light had treated him this way, and his eyes nearly rolled back in his head at the sinister and promising laugh that resounded in his ear.

"I had a little talk with Jason the other day," Light whispered suddenly, "he told me something you've been keeping from me L."

L stiffened at Light's words and his breath caught in his throat. A burst of pure panic sped up his spine and was stopped by the growing arousal that filled him, leaving it to twist and turn inside him. The panic blossomed into sheer anticipation as Light laughed again, and L hazily wondered whether Light had been holding back for himself or whether it had been because he had been holding back for L, in case L no longer wanted that side of their relationship.

"Now, what do you think he had to tell me L?" Light whispered, and his warm breath coasted over the shell of the black haired man's ear. L stared up at the sky above him, wondering just how he was meant to reply, he couldn't even string a sentence together in his head he was that on edge. He couldn't believe the one person in the world who was able to stop his thoughts was asking him to answer questions. He couldn't do it; he knew he couldn't, not when it had taken so much to confess it to Jason. To say those words to Light, to tell him that he wanted...

L whimpered; a tight throat constricting whimper.

"I do wonder why you couldn't tell me L," Light sighed, shifting so he could stare down into L's eyes.

"Tell you?" L whispered, startled into sudden brutal honesty at the worried look in Light's eyes, "I've never been able to say those things to you. I panic."

"Panic?" Light asked, and he shifted to lay gentle kisses on L's neck once more.

"I know that you'll probably pick that moment to put whatever I say into practice," L replied, and his words finished with a sigh of pleasure as Light licked along the rim of his ear. He wondered how Light truly meant for them to have a serious discussion through all this, it wasn't playing fair; but then, he knew he hadn't asked for, or wanted, fair.

"That isn't true," Light chuckled, his face suddenly above L's once more, "I would almost certainly make you wait."

L stared up at Light with wide eyes, his heart pounding at the implications of his partner's words. He gulped as Light smiled down at him, a wicked and seductive expression L thought.

"Just as I am doing now," Light added, and he ground his hips down suddenly into L making the black haired man cry out in sudden pleasure, "You don't seem to be minding the wait at all."

L wanted to glare up at his tormentor, but he couldn't. To have this side of Light return so suddenly into his life had confounded his mind, and even finding simple words to form a sentence had taxed his mind. All he wanted was Light, whatever Light decided to do next; as long as it didn't involve talking.

"Light," L moaned, trying to at least convey some of what he needed, but failing as he looked up into Light's amber eyes and met that gaze that seemed all to like an Angel's. He couldn't believe Light still had the self control to pull that off even as his hips continued to move against L's.

"If we had more time," Light sighed as his body stilled, hands releasing L's from where he held them, "I would punish you properly for not telling me. I thought we had better communication than that. However as you said, we only have an hour, now less. So, any true punishment is-" Here Light paused to laugh in what could only be considered an evil way, "-going to have to wait."

L went limp beneath Light as his words shocked him out of his daze, even while his toes curled and arousal flooded into his cock at all the possibilities that suddenly littered his future. Light seemed to sense his sudden inertia and used it to rid L of his jeans without even the slightest murmur from L. Only the widening of L's eyes and the shortening of his breath as his hands clenched where they still lay above his head showed that L was definitely still very much in the real world.

Light debated telling L just how much of a delicious sight he was sprawled out on the recliner with his arms draped above his head, legs bare and erection standing proud between them almost framed in the black hair at his base. He managed to catch himself just before he licked his lips, and he turned his attentions to his trousers. They were suddenly quite the offensive piece of clothing, and Light wanted them gone.

Light was grateful he had long practice with such things else he would have fumbled and lost some of his arousal as his right hand still tried to aid the left in removing his trousers. Despite the loss of two fingers, and the many years of practice, he still tried to use it as he had once been able. Now though he simply smiled as he remembered the countless times L had kissed his hand and gently licked at the scarred area. He couldn't feel any regret about something with such an image in his mind, he never could.

His smile widened as he turned back to the sight that was still before his eyes, and he draped himself back over his lover as he took in the image of the absolute need that had filled L's eyes. Light finally showed him how much he was affected as their bodies touched, both giving small cries of pleasure at being skin to skin once more, even if the shirts were still in the way.

"Keep your hands where they are," Light commanded, even though he knew it was unlikely L could have moved them from where they were anyway and his tone was a gentle one. He smiled down at L as he spoke before leaning down and kissing him gently on the lips, the tender touch conveying all the emotions he felt for the man beneath him, feelings he knew were felt for him too. Suddenly eager to taste more of his lover he progressed down L's body leaving a trail of soft kisses from his lips down to his chest, tongue slipping out occasionally to truly taste the skin beneath him and the strange flavour that was all L.

"Light," L gasped, and with that one softly spoken sound of his name Light knew any anxiety L had gained about his future had left him completely at his change in pace. He was glad; he wanted all of his partner's attention fixed on him, right now, right here. He glanced up to see L's gaze fixed resolutely on the sky above him, cheeks flushed and lips parted while his hands twitching slightly above his head. Then he raised a hand and pressed it against those parted lips, a second later they were held in the warmth of L's mouth. Light simply lay across his lover, right hand rubbing and caressing L's chest as best he could, rubbing his little finger in small circles around L's nipples through the shirt as he felt his lover's tongue caress and moisten the fingers he held in his mouth. He attempted to pull his fingers from L's mouth but was only met by a small moan from L and the feel of said man's teeth keeping his fingers in his mouth.

"L," Light chuckled, still attempting to retrieve his fingers, his voice shaking slightly from the delicious feel of L's talented tongue on his sensitive fingers, "I can't do anything unless you give me my fingers back... well I could, but I doubt that would suit any of us at the moment."

L's eyes snapped to meet his as Light was finally allowed his soaking digits back, and Light bit back another chuckle as the big black eyes staring at him looked somewhat sheepish. It seemed even L hadn't known what he was doing. Light managed to hold back any sarcastic comments he could have said, and instead chose to slip down the recliner to put his sodden fingers to the better use he had been promising L. The man in question spread his legs as Light shifted lower and as he lifted them back he was grateful Light guided them to his shoulders. He didn't know if he could keep them in place if he didn't have somewhere solid to place them. Light ran a finger teasingly around L's entrance, feeling the muscle twitch at his touch.

Slowly he eased his finger inwards, delighting in the feel of L's heat even if it was just around his finger. He knew there was more joy to come, but when it came to L he always like to take his time. Then L decided to become rational at the worst possible moment.

"Light," L gasped, "The time!"

Light sighed, and shifted to press kisses against L's inner thigh before adding another finger to join the first. He wondered at L's ability for select rationality, there had to be some way to turn that off, or at least turn it against him in the future.

L groaned as Light worked at him with his fingers, scissoring apart to stretch him and pressing occasionally against his prostate to send delicious bursts of pleasure into his erection and up to his brain. He stared up at the sky as Light laid fresh kisses on his leg another finger working into him, barely hearing his own cries of pleasure as he neared the edge before Light had even entered him or touched his cock. To be close to Light was worth more at times than any more physical activity, to have both combined was greater than he could say.

His hands clung desperately to the top of the recliner as Light's fingers finally left him, and his gaze dropped to find Light staring straight at him. His eyes widened as Light pushed into him, but he didn't break the eye contact. Light's gaze was the one thing keeping him fixed, keeping him grounded and he couldn't lose it, not yet.

Unbidden his hands rose to twine into Light's hair and pull him down towards him, he could feel his body stretched to an impossible angle as his feet stayed placed on Light's shoulders, but he needed to kiss Light. In this one moment he needed everything from Light and he couldn't be denied. He moaned into the sloppy kiss, and was grateful Light moaned as well, grateful to know his lover seemed as affected by events as he was.

He had to break the kiss though as the first true thrust of Light into him hit him, he needed to cry out and breathe at the same time; neither was possible with Light's mouth on his no matter how much he desired it to be true. As if he had taken L's warning to heart Light set up a punishing rhythm into him, thrusting against L's prostate with an almost terrible accuracy, making L's vision swim and his attempts to match Light's movements near useless.

L knew he was close and the sudden loss of rhythm of his partner's thrusts into him told him Light had to be too and as a firm hand wrapped around his cock and finally relieved some of the ache that had built there, L knew it too be true. The sounds of both their cries suddenly registered on L's mind and he smiled as he continued to moan in pleasure, finally hearing the moans coming from Light as he thrust into him

"Come for me L," Light cried suddenly, the words cutting through his moans, "Please, come for me."

L came, his strangled cry of Light's name ripped from him as his mind was submerged at last under the sea of pleasure that consumed him, he barely registered the feel of Light reaching the edge himself, hot traces burning up inside him as his own release coated their shirts and soaked through to the skin beneath.

They lay sated, holding each other close as they languished in the pleasure that still filled their minds. L's gaze fell from Light's face to the floor of the courtyard, his legs finally falling from Light's shoulders to the edge of the recliner. He smiled, a small giggle managing to escape him as he saw the papers scattered on the floor.

"We seem to have ruined your writing," L commented, and Light chuckled against his chest

"I have another copy," Light murmured and then he stiffened. When he spoke again he sounded almost like his normal self again, "We don't have time to lay here."

L's eyes grew wide and he turned to look at Light again, as his own body went stiff. A second later they both powered into action, rising from the recliner, grabbing their clothing to them and checking the area for anything revealing before running to the relative safety of their rooms. Behind them the papers, now much crinkled and slightly damp, fluttered in the breeze.

A few moments later, unheard by the two now occupying the shower, the phone rang.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N; So you all liked the addition of a Lemon so early in the story? I'm glad, I felt I had to include one as it had been so many chapters, character-wise, since the last one. I'm happy you all liked it.

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Please read and review!

* * *

Chapter 3

Light sat at the kitchen counter watching L cook. Theoretically he was meant to be writing the next section of a book in the set he was now given permission to write. Indeed the laptop was open before him and the word document open to the correct page; but the sight before him was far too interesting to be ignored. It wasn't often his partner cooked with Jason around, the man they had 'acquired' due to the abhorrent actions of Beyond, a person Light could think of without any feeling of fear anymore, enjoyed cooking far too much to be denied the pleasure. Yet when L cooked he did so perfectly and with such grace he had to be observed Light thought.

He had always been surprised L had taken to cooking; it had not seemed like something the highly intellectual man before him would choose to do. Unless working in a restaurant kitchen it could hardly be called the most mentally taxing of activities, it could be difficult yes, but not at the level L was used to. It had been quite a surprise for Light to hear the reason from his lover, it was because L had learnt to cook because of him and so L wanted to cook _for_ him occasionally... and L had not been the best of cooks when he had begun and, as it was something L had found personally difficult, he had to continue until he was at a level he approved of. It was an aspect of the black-haired man's personality Light loved intensely.

"Must you always watch me when I cook?" L asked as he paused in slicing up a now cooked chicken breast; glancing up at Light with what was obviously intended to be an annoyed expression. It failed because his eyes sparkled and a smile twitched at his lips. Light chose to merely smile back and shifted to rest his head gently on his left hand; he was rewarded with the narrowing of L's eyes before he turned back to his slicing. The cook couldn't hide the smile that resolutely refused to leave his face though, and it seemed to Light that L hand's moved with slightly less grace than before because he was watching him.

His observation of L was brought to a close though as there was the sound of the front door opening followed by the sound of one excited small childlike voice being calmed by a much older voice entering the entrance hall. Whatever the older voice had said though seemed to have failed as there was the pattering of feet and the door to the large open plan main room opened and a small girl in a white dress barrelled into the room, followed rapidly by a large black cat. Neither of the two men in the room had time to blink before she was stood before them triumphantly brandishing a flower while the cat curled at her feet.

"Daddy, what's this?" Eleanor asked, the gaze she fixed on L was filled with the fervour she had developed recently for wanting to know the name of everything. Light smiled, he knew it was a dangerous thought, but he hoped it meant she could become as clever as L and himself, or at least close to it. He didn't like to think that way though, he didn't want to pressurize her to become like them.

L glanced at Light as his daughter continued to brandish the flower up at him. It was obvious he was still getting to grips with the bundle of energy that was their adopted child, most of the time he obviously took great delight in telling Eleanor about the world around her; often in far too much detail... but sometimes it was evident he didn't quite like that the areas were unpredictable. Light was still waiting for the day when L didn't know the answer though; it was very evident that L was eons ahead of him still in sheer knowledge and probably always would be.

"Oh, you're daddy, not me," Light commented with a grin, and he laughed slightly as Eleanor nodded enthusiastically obviously agreeing with him. He turned slightly to smile at Jason as the man perched on the chair next to him, he reached out with one hand and for a moment the two close friends held equally damaged hands. A silent greeting that helped them not only remember their past, but also that it _was_ in the past. It was odd, but it helped them.

"So, you want to know the name of the flower," L stated, not really asking her as he turned to wash his hands at the sink, "Do you remember where you found it?"

"It was growing next to the path," Eleanor said, her voice filled with evident thought, "up against a house... There were others."

The last sentence was added with a hint of trepidation, and Light could well understand why. L never shouted and indeed Light could never visualise his lover shouting, it was something he had only seen a couple times and the memory of it seemed fake, but he had been _disappointed_ in Eleanor for picking a solitary flower when there had been no others of that type around. Light had tried to reason that she had been only three and a half at the time, but L had said she had to learn some time. As if in acknowledgement of this L nodded and flashed her a smile to reassure her, telling her he wasn't disappointed.

"Now then, let's see if we can work out what this is," L said, and he stepped round the counter to crouch down next to her, his thumb coming to perch by the side of his mouth as he gave the bloom a serious look. The look was slightly ruined as Rigel, now a fully grown black cat with white patches, decided that now was the moment to return to his original master. As expected Eleanor giggled, this was the cue for L to take the flower between forefinger and thumb to inspect it. Sometimes Light wondered how Eleanor was ever going to think that she would have to mature as she aged with the world's most successful child as one of her fathers.

"I noticed the LED on the phone flashing as I came in," Jason murmured, breaking into Light's contemplation of his family. He swivelled in the chair to look at Jason quizzically, he couldn't remember hearing the phone, but then he had been involved in _other_ things.

"Did you notice the name?" Light asked, keeping his voice quiet so L and Eleanor couldn't hear them.

"No," Jason replied, and then he chuckled, "I'm surprised you didn't hear it."

"We were out in the garden," Light said calmly, refusing to rise to the too obvious bait. He could tell by the gleam in Jason's eyes that the man knew precisely what the two men had been up to.

"It is a nice day isn't it," Jason said, apparently completely prepared to continue this game until Light snapped.

"A very nice day," Light commented, "Now I think I should go check that message in case it was important, don't want L upset with us do you?"

Light left the room with as much decorum as he could manage with Jason's quiet chuckles ringing in his ear. He knew Jason would follow any and all orders he gave him without question; but that didn't stop him from being as insubordinate as he could manage every minute of the day. It seemed to be Jason's sole purpose in life, and Light wondered if Jason only did it to prove that Light wasn't Beyond and wasn't a 'master' that would abuse his position... Light grimaced and forced his thoughts back to the present. He refused to think about Beyond twice in one day, refused to think of him at all in fact. It was in the past.

Once the door to the main room was securely shut so the sound of the phone would not disturb the two people attempting to identify the flower, Light pressed the message button on the phone, an eyebrow rising almost automatically in curiosity as he saw the call came directly from Mello. Usually the trio arrived unannounced whenever they wanted to stay with them.

"_Hey Guys," _Mello's voice said as the message played, "_Can't possibly think of what you could be doing to pass the time that would mean you couldn't come to the phone. Seriously, if you're out haven't you heard of the mobile phone? Anyway, I'm phoning with a piece of news and some information that I know the cake loving fiend will be interested in. I would say over the phone but that might mean we wouldn't get the pleasure of your phone call. Seriously, for two people that work from home you don't call often-"_

"_You do realise you're rambling? That could be a sign of a failing, or a weak, intelligence." _

Light laughed as he heard Near's voice suddenly cut over Mello's, he knew that Near could never resist such comments no matter how close he became to Mello. He could just imagine Mello's face, and his laughter only increased as the silence stretched on for a couple more seconds.

"_Anyway," _Mello's voice suddenly continued, "_You should call. This is information you need to know. Hope to talk to you soon."_

The click resounded in the quiet of the hallway, and Light laughed at the imagined things fate had in store for Near after such a comment to Mello. He wondered briefly if the trio were developing something similar to the lifestyle he and L shared; and whether it was occurring because of what the trio had accidentally seen when they had placed those cameras. If they were he just hoped they never asked him for advice, it was one conversation he hoped never to have in his lifetime; the trio were too much like family for that to ever be comfortable.

Light sighed and, picking the phone off its stand, slipped back into the main room just in time to see Eleanor running off into the garden, the presumably now identified flower back in her hand. He suspected L had given her the task of seeing if they had any in their garden.

"So what was it?" Light asked, resuming his seat at the counter as he placed the phone down in front of him.

"_Veronica averensis, _or common Speedwell," L said with a smile, "Though I'm surprised she found it growing where she did. Who phoned?"

"Mello," Light replied, completely unsurprised that L would have understood completely what the sudden appearance of the phone would mean, "Apparently he has 'a piece of news and some information that I know the cake loving fiend will be interested in'. His words not mine."

Light held back a laugh as L's brow actually twitched, it was evident Mello's comment had caused the effect he had obviously desired; he wondered whether he should tell the blonde.

"Oh, and they think we don't call often enough," Light added, unable to stop a small laugh from following his words.

"We have talked to them every week for the past three and a half years, sometimes more," L said, sounding completely serious, continuing with his cooking as he talked, "That should be considered more than adequate. However I think it's time we phone them, I'm curious about what they want to share."

"You're curious about everything," Light commented, as he reached for phone and brought up Mello's number. "I do wonder how either of us thought you would cope without_ some_ cases."

"The job I do now is vastly different from before," L replied with a smile as the phone rang between them.

"I'll go watch Eleanor in the garden," Jason chuckled, rising and heading towards the open door to the courtyard.

"Thank you," L and Light called as one. Both felt a momentary pang of guilt for not being the one out there with her, but it was very rare that they weren't with their daughter in some way; in fact Jason took care of her for one day a week so they could all have a welcome break from routine.

...

"Mello!" Matt called, "Your phone's ringing."

There was an annoyed sigh and Mello paused in whatever he was doing and padded in from an adjoining room. Matt felt the glare from the man through the back of his head as he realised that Matt hadn't answered the phone so he could continue with his game. He felt the glare shift to Near who was ensconced inside another building project, so absorbed that he hadn't even glanced in the direction of the phone as it began to ring.

"Am I the only one working today?" Mello said coldly just before he looked down at the caller display, a frown forming as Matt chuckled and Near continued on in silence. He loved them deeply, but sometimes he couldn't help hating them too. In a happier tone he added, "It's them."

The two final words acted like some form of magic spell, and gave him the attention of the other two as he answered the phone and put it immediately into speaker setting.

"Hey," Mello said, suddenly sounding happy, "Thanks for getting back to us so quickly."

"You mentioned information," Light laughed over the phone, "Of course we would get back to you quickly. Can you imagine the _cake loving fiend_ ever passing up information?"

Mello laughed at Light's words, and it became slightly evil as he was sure he heard a disgruntled noise from L.

"What precisely did you think we needed to know?" L asked, and he sounded serious so Mello knew he must have had an effect with his words.

"L," Matt interjected, shaking his head at Mello who was too bust laughing to talk, "Do you have any knowledge of what happened to E after he was moved from Wammy's?"

"Only the basics," L said softly, "he was moved to a safe house after the incident at Wammy's. Apparently he didn't respond well to the change and was a quiet and reclusive character around the family he was sent to live with. A few weeks after he had been there he vanished. No-one's been able to trace him, and truth be told not much effort was put to the task. With everything focusing on B the timing was perfect for anyone wanting to leave the fold of Wammy's without being tracked. No effort was put into finding him later I suspect because Wammy would have considered it E's choice."

"Well," Matt sighed, "We found him-"

"He was the driver of a suspected delivery of information or goods for a new, but growing international gang," Mello said, cutting across Matt, "We managed to stop the vehicle, but E was shot as he was led from the scene. Whatever he had told them, and what he could have told us was lost. E is dead."

"I see," L commented, and there was a pause for a moment, "What was he transporting?"

"There was nothing else in the car besides an overnight bag and 3 CD's," Near said softly, "The CD's have all been checked, and they are all just music CDs."

"If E was transporting anything, it was just himself," Matt sighed, "We've checked over all the effects on his person as well; there is nothing that we can see as being any importance."

"I sense that you don't want my help in this despite telling me all these details," L commented, "So I shall give you the reassurance you obviously need. You could not have known that he would be shot. Without prior knowledge about who it was you could not have factored such a thing in. This is not a failure. Is there anything more about E you can tell me though? It is quite disappointing to hear of someone from Wammy's following such a path."

"Nothing more than we have already told you," Mello replied, "he had no ID on him, and no currency of any kind. If we hadn't been able to identify him he would have been a John Doe or something."

"He still remembered his Wammy's training then," L sighed, "I cannot see what else can be done; except catching this gang of course."

"Oh, we're working on that," Matt said, and Mello rolled his eyes at the smirk that appeared on the red head's face.

"I would have expected nothing less," the previous holder of their title replied, "You are not the sort to stop just because someone has died and taken information with them. Even one this close to you."

"Hardly," Mello interjected, "he was just a lowly rival at Wammy's."

There was the sound of Light laughing on the other end of the phone, and the trio could only imagine the look on L's face that caused it. All three of them knew L hated the rivalry that formed at Wammy's despite the fact it was inevitable. L's reply then completely surprised him.

"I would hardly think he was ever a rival for you three," L said softly, "I never thought any other people at Wammy's could have taken my role."

The trio felt renewed by L's praise, and by the comments he had made about the loss of E not being failure. They had known it logically themselves, but it was still reassuring to hear the same words from the man they considered so much a father figure at times.

"Why do you think they wanted E?" Light said suddenly, and the sudden sound of his voice made Near jump.

"We think it is because they finally found out that L the Detective was more than just a story to scare criminals with and they were spooked," Mello said slowly, "so they found, somehow, one of the few people in the world who had contact in some form with L and was willing to talk about it. E was that person. Of course it could be for some other reason, but until new data comes to light this seems the most likely option."

"I agree," L replied eventually, "there has been this search for information before by growing gangs before, they never had access to such a source in the past though. E was not a big breach of secrecy despite this, he was part of Wammy's but all his information was outdated and he hardly knew anything about me, or you I presume."

"Indeed," Near said softly.

"You will phone us if there is any new information relating to this?" L asked, "I am not going to step on your toes, I just want to be kept informed."

"Of course," Mello said, and he grinned, "This is a 'family' matter after all."

There was more sound of Light laughing at the other end of the phone line.

"Yes, I suppose it is," L said finally and Mello's grin turned into a smirk, "Now, unless I'm very much mistaken the sounds I can hear coming from the garden are from Eleanor terrorising Jason. We must go. Goodbye."

"Bye," the trio chorused, almost in the unison they had achieved back at Wammy's.

They didn't even hear Light manage to say goodbye through his laughter as the line was cut off.

"Well, I think that went very well," Mello laughed as he lounged back on the sofa one hand reaching for his ever present chocolate.

"If you count annoying L as an achievement yes I agree," Matt sighed, "I wouldn't be surprised if he accidentally kicks you next time we meet."

"No, he wouldn't do that," Near said softly, "He would never do something so obvious."

...

"You are such a liar," Light managed to say as L cut the call.

"I had to think of some reason to end the call," L commented before turning back to the food he was preparing. This time it appeared he was finally moving on to what he enjoyed most, making cakes. After a few more minutes of L watching Light rose and headed towards the door out into the courtyard.

"I believe I shall go add some weight to that lie of yours," Light said in explanation as he slid on some shoes, "Can't have it all a fabrication."

He heard L chuckle behind him.

"Oh, when are you travelling to England again?" Light asked, pausing with his hand on the doorframe as he left so he could look back at L.

"My plane next Tuesday leaves at 2pm."

"Ah, good," Light said with a smile, and he laughed as L stared at him critically, "I hoped I had remembered correctly. It means I can cook you lunch before you go."

With that Light hurried away into the garden.

"You really are going to miss me Light," L whispered after his lover had gone, "If you want to cook for me."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N; Well, I apologise profusely for the long wait, but I have quite frankly been struggling with this chapter. I struggled and I struggled, until I realised that it wasn't L and Light this chapter was meant to be about, but the trio. So now I provide you this trio filled chapter in the hope that you shall forgive me for the long wait between updates. Also, I know it's a much shorter chapter, but being at home for Christmas seems to have taken my ability, and my time, to write, but I hope to give you another chapter very soon.

Review replies will be done later as my internet connection is also very poor at the moment.

*bows* Please forgive me.

A Merry Christmas to you all, or whatever seasonal greeting you would prefer.

Please read and review!

* * *

Chapter 4

The room was almost deathly silent as the occupants looked over the details of the newest case to come their way. All were calmly learning the details of something that would have many skilled and veteran officers of the law running from the room in disgust and revulsion. The pictures would have been enough to have given anyone nightmares for years, but they took it all in as if they were looking at pictures of relatives of anything that _wasn't_ what was laid out before them on the coffee table. The four of them were gathered around an old coffee table, a surface usually scattered over with Mello's coffee cups, Matt's games and the occasional errant dice, that was now covered in an even layer of victim profiles and images; the case notes themselves on the floor forgotten.

"I think we can be quite sure this is a serial killer, not someone attempting to copy the killings," Matt said quietly, "despite the years that separate them."

"What makes you say that?" Matsuda whispered his voice just as quiet. It was as if staring at such an atrocity made them all subdued and unwilling to speak louder.

"No-one would want to copy something like this," Mello sighed, "and to mimic the cuts would require a great deal of accuracy. This was also something not released to the general public, in fact, not even many of the police force knew of it."

"So if it was a copy cat," Near said, finishing the explanation, "It would have to be a police officer from the original case."

"How likely is that?" Matsuda asked. He knew many people would find it strange that he was asking so many questions of the trio, but he knew that they, especially Near, liked to be asked these questions. It made them feel more secure in what they knew; even if many thought they only enjoyed such attention so they could show off.

"Less than five percent probability," Near replied, "they all have exemplary carriers."

"Besides," Mello added, "all but three of them have died."

"Ah," Matsuda said softly, then his brow furrowed, "How is that relevant?"

"These are the other officers," Matt muttered and the usually happy gamer leaned forward to tap five of the pictures on the crowded table. He seemed to become more unhappy as he did so, his face a perfect image of despair and absolute anguish. This was not like the trio at all, even though this case was one of the worst they had viewed, it could not possibly have been enough to unsettle them this deeply.

"What is it?" Matsuda asked, growing more confused by the moment.

"This is the only case L lost," Near said, his voice tinged with emotion, "this is the one case L didn't solve."

Matsuda stared at the trio in astonishment. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was like saying the sky was orange with green spots, or that Mello didn't eat chocolate. It was wrong, it didn't fit. It _couldn't_ be. Yet the trio seemed adamant that it was the case. It was evident the trio didn't like it either and it unsettled them to admit it to someone else, L was someone they held in high esteem after all.

"Didn't _not _couldn't," Mello said quickly, attempting to explain the startling secret to Matsuda, "It was before he became famous. He was only seven at the time-"

"Only seven?!" Matsuda gasped.

"It was one of his first cases, and he didn't have any of the resources, technical help, or information available that he would have just a year, or even a few months later," Mello continued, his eyebrow twitching at the interruption from Matsuda but managing not to say anything about it. "To have seen such images as these can't have helped.... Needless to say he couldn't solve it from the little data he had, it would. Not so much a loss as a stalemate, no-one would have been able to solve it with the little data he had. Though I think the case haunted him for years. I believe he never returned to it because Wammy forbade him to do so, the images were not something he was comfortable in letting a person of such an age see. He was always willing to let L do what he wished, but this was one of the few instances he put his foot down. Now it seems we reap the rewards of his actions."

"Why didn't L return to it when he was older, when Wammy surely couldn't have stopped him?" Matsuda asked, showing just how far he had come with the trio.

"Considering how many cases he had to deal with on a daily basis, and the number of aliases he had to support, it is unsurprising such a case was left behind," Near said quietly, "At the time only eight victims were recorded in the case and no reward was ever offered; it never met his later requirements for taking on a case so never would have appeared on his system."

"Doesn't help that all the documentation on the case is on paper, L wouldn't have been able to retain copies," Matt said, sounding annoyed again, "not even the police realised how much they had till they unearthed it at our request. They thought this was entirely new and that this had not happened before. It's doubtful L even has a copy of the documents he was shown at the time. We only know about it because of how much L has told us about his past, until now I hadn't thought he had told us the truth until I saw this."

"No wonder this has been able to go on so long and take out so many people," Matsuda whispered, staring down at the pictures once more. There were twenty-one main photographs grouped in the middle of the table, and each was of a separate victim, around them swarmed pictures of how they had looked before they had been mutilated. There was hardly any resemblance. "This is still horrible."

"No doubt this will be someone Light will take great joy in removing from the world," Mello said, glowering down at the pictures, "After all; he still uses that Death Note occasionally."

"He was never going to completely give it up, not even with Beyond torturing him because of it," Matt sighed, "and seeing these I am suddenly grateful he didn't."

"Can we turn back to the case now?" Near said suddenly, a disgruntled hand flicking a piece of hair over and over between two fingers, "Discussing the past is going to get us nowhere, how are we going to solve this until we actually look at the case?"

Suitably chastised Matt and Mello turned back to the task in hand, silence descending as they perused the images once more before gradually shifting to begin the slow sifting through the documents that littered the floor. The only sounds that came from the trio being Matt's quiet sounds of disgust that the case was resolutely paper bound, and Near and Mello's quiet sounds of agreement punctuated by the breaking of chocolate.

It wasn't long until Matsuda was away on other duties, dismissed from the room to deal with the trio's contacts and sort out the copious supplies the trio needed to function. He knew well now just how many duties Wammy had had to contend with when he had served L. Matsuda also knew that it was likely he had far less trouble with three charges than Wammy had ever contended with when he had cared for L; he had depended on Wammy from the age of six, it had only to be expected.

"We're going to have to talk to him about it aren't we?" Mello growled at last jerking to his feet to stand by a large window that looked out from the second floor down onto the long drive below; his gaze taking in the sunset before them.

"I think so," Matt sighed, tossing down the document he was reading, "no wonder they never solved it originally; their record keeping was-"

"Absolute shit," Mello said, cutting across Matt.

Without a word Near rose from where he was surrounded by fallen brown folders and padded across the carpeted floor on bare feet, to where Mello stood staring out the window. In a startling display of forwardness that had Mello's eyes widening in surprise Near leant closer to the blonde haired man and turned his face towards him so he could kiss him gently on the mouth. An instant later all the tension drained from the scarred man's frame and he pulled the shorter man next to him into an embrace.

"You're certainly getting better at all this emotional business," Matt said with a smile from where he still sat on the floor. There wasn't a trace of jealousy on his face, just a simple admiration for seeing the two people he loved taking comfort in one another's presence.

"No, I don't think so," Near said, his voice muffled by the leather jacket Mello was wearing, "I'm just getting better at dealing with Mello's moods."

"Hey," Mello growled, raising a hand to tap Near on the top of his head, but there was no real annoyance to his tone and a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. Matt meanwhile collapsed back onto the floor behind him laughing heartily, the final lines of tension leaving his forehead.

Together the trio managed to balance each other's moods and counter any shortcomings they created. Apart they would never be able to function on their own, together they surpassed even L with their abilities.

Matt's laughter ceased as all the air was knocked out of him by someone landing heavily on his chest. He opened his eyes and stared up at the person who had sat on him and was slightly surprised to see it was Near.

"I thought I best play fair," Near whispered, his cheeks colouring at even this small sentence as he leant down till his chest pressed against Matt's and kissed Matt. The redhead smiled into the kiss and brought his arms up to hold the smaller man to him.

Mello smirked as he saw the two on the floor and he decided that they had done enough work for the day; it was already well into the evening. Anything that the case was going to tell them could wait until the morning, at least it could now Near had reminded Mello that there were far more pleasing ways to spend their time. As silently as possible he shifted closer to them, apparently unheard as he stopped next to them and crouched down.

They noticed though as he spoke.

"I think this would be better if we went somewhere else," Mello murmured, filling his voice with as much promise as he could. As such it meant that he sounded more as though he was gloating, but it had the desired effect on his partners. They both turned to stare at him with wide eyes filled with a tumult of very pleasing emotions, particularly as a wide grin spread across Matt's face and Near shifted closer to Mello.

"Come on then," Mello muttered, and he pulled Near up into his arms so he was almost completely over one of his shoulders. For a moment Mello was very grateful that Near had stayed small it meant he could carry him just as far as he had been able to in the past. Then he gave Matt a broad smirk and grabbing him by the hand appeared to almost drag him from the room. The gamer obviously wasn't against such treatment if the sudden almost _giggle_ was anything to go by and Mello nearly broke into a run out the sound. He was sorely tempted to stop and use one the many rooms they were passing, but he had said they were going to the bedroom so he wasn't going to give them any chance to tease him if they stopped sooner. He was meant to be the most dominant one in this relationship.

"Ah, Mello," Matsuda said suddenly, appearing out of a room they passed. It seemed he had developed Wammy's almost magical ability to appear out of nowhere and at the most inopportune moment, at least from the trio's point of view, "The European representative of the Contact ring has arrived to speak with you. She-"

"Later," Mello growled, and hurried past their aide. He could have sworn by the way Matt's hand twisted in his that the redhead had turned to wave at Matsuda. When Near laughed slightly from his perch he knew that had to be the case.

"But Mello!" Matsuda called after them, "It's already early evening-"

"Then give her a room for the night," Mello called, and turned the corner. He smiled as he saw their bedroom door before him. Their place was really too big he thought, but he wasn't about to downsize. He liked the manor normally.

"That was rude," Near whispered against his shoulder as Mello closed the door behind them.

"Complaining Near?" Mello asked, striding over to the bed.

"No," Near managed to say as he was placed surprisingly carefully down on the bed, "Just thought I should inform you of it."

"Matt," Mello said, his tone cool, "I think you should find some way to silence Near."

The redhead chuckled, and slowly climbed onto the bed next to Near.

* * *

A/N; So would you like a lemon based around the trio now? Yes or no?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N; So, as you all already know, here is the lemon you all wanted. I hope you like it.

A Happy New Year to you all, and I hope the year brings you everything you desire.

Please read and review!

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Chapter 5

"Matt," Mello said, his tone cool, "I think you should find some way to silence Near."

The redhead chuckled, and slowly climbed onto the bed next to Near.

"Oh, I can think of a way," Matt whispered, and uncharacteristically his eyes narrowed with wickedness as he approached Near, "but I think he deserves more than that. After all, he's always so greedy for our affections. I think we should deny him that for a change."

Mello stared at Matt in sudden surprise; it wasn't often that Matt was demanding in his attentions or with what he wanted. True he was often quite forceful with Near, but often it was necessary as the white haired genius was often quite the idiot when it came to expressing how he felt. It was only recently in fact that he had begun to initiate anything more than a simple kiss, which was why he had been receiving more of Matt and Mello's affections than the other two had been giving to each other. Apparently it had become a little two 'one-sided' for Matt's liking. Mello wasn't about to complain though, this just gave him more opportunity to 'play' with the two people he loved.

He turned his gaze down towards where Near still lay on the bed to see him staring up at Matt with outright shock, his chest heaving as he looked up into Matt's suddenly almost predatory expression. There was no fear on Near's face though and Mello knew he could give Matt what he wanted, albeit within his own set of rules. If Matt wanted this he was going to do it Mello's own way.

"Bind his hands to the top of the bed Matt," Mello said at last, his voice apparently breaking the spell that had kept the other two still and unmoving on the bed staring each other out.

"Mello, what are you..." Near began, but was stopped by his surprise as both Matt and Mello pushed him to the top of the bed so he was sitting against the ironwork of the frame. He felt his stomach muscles tighten in anticipation, but as usual his mind fought against just simply letting go and doing whatever Mello wished.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll like it," Mello commented with a smirk as he held Near's arms in place against the headboard. He didn't hold them too tightly though, if his captive partner had wanted to he could have broken free quite easily, "Eventually."

Matt chuckled as he heard Near's audible swallow at his blonde partners words, and he pulled at the apparently decorative pale blue fabric that twined its way through the decorative ironwork. As soon as they were free he began threading it back, but this time it wrapped round and around Near's arm. As the third loop captured Near's arm he heard a sharp intake of breath and glanced up at Near's face to see he had the white-haired man's undivided attention, and he smiled. Tonight was going to be fun. There was an outright whimper from Near as Mello shifted to bind his other arm down and Matt couldn't hold back a chuckle, he knew that Mello had suggested such bed adornments for this very use, but until now they hadn't been used. From the way the blue looked against Near's white shirt and the pale flesh of his hand, Matt couldn't fathom why they _hadn't_ used them before.

Matt was so entranced with the image of Near bound before him, with his mouth open as he heaved in harsh breaths, cheeks flushed with anticipation that he was taken completely unawares as arms suddenly encircled him and pulled him back into Mello's warm embrace. He couldn't hold back the small sound of surprise as he was shifted backwards to sit against the leather clad chest of his other lover where he had to be sat reclining against the footboard. Matt didn't even attempt to end the embrace, he merely tried to relax back in Mello's arms despite his own now growing nerves; he knew that whatever Mello had planned he couldn't back out. He was the one who had started this aspect of the night's proceedings after all. He looked back at Near and saw that he was already watching the two of them with a yearning that belayed any comment from the old residents of Wammy's that Near didn't have emotions, for Near most certainly felt deeply about things.

"Whatever do you have planned Mail?" Mello whispered, and Matt couldn't help but shiver as a sudden wave of arousal swept down his over sensitive body. Partly from the feel of Mello's hot breath coasting over his ear and fluttering around his neck, and partly from the sound of his real name being spoken by Mello. He had never regretted telling Near or Mello it shortly after they had become 'L', he knew he could trust them with it. If not them then who?

"I'm waiting for an answer Mail," Mello whispered a moment later as Matt lost himself in his thoughts, and the redhead couldn't help but shiver in Mello's arms as his mind sped to find an appropriate reply.

"I hadn't truly thought of one," Matt said quietly, attempting to keep his voice low. It was evident Mello didn't want the bound Near to hear any of this discussion. "I thought you liked planning such things anyway."

"How true," Mello murmured, chuckling softly, his face buried in Matt's hair, "Then all you have to do is obey my instructions and you will get you wanted too."

Matt swallowed at Mello's words and he felt a hot wave of tension spread out from his chest, as though Mello's hand that rested there had caused it. He turned his head towards Mello's as the blonde's other hand touched his cheek and gently coaxed his head to move. He went limp, all his tension leaving him and his head nearly fell to Mello's shoulder as he was finally kissed. He opened his mouth willingly to his lover, and let himself be readily plundered by the hot tongue that pushed past his trembling lips. He barely attempted to fight back, just caressed the rapidly moving muscle with his own; merely attempting to encourage Mello to do more. The hand on his cheek shifted to run into his hair and hold him closer, while the arm around his waist tightened. He felt completely cocooned in Mello's embrace and despite the perilousness of the situation he couldn't help but feel the safest he ever felt in his life.

He was jarred out of his happy contentment, and almost completely relaxed state, as Mello's hand on his shirt began to wander lower down his torso. His own hands rose from where they had been gripping the covers and tried to stop its progress, an irrational movement but the sudden loss of his peaceful state had jarred his mind.

"Naughty, naughty," Mello chided, breaking the passionate kiss just long enough to tap Matt on the cheek with the hand that had been entwined in Matt's hair, before his lips pressed against Matt's once more and cut off any reply he may have had any intention of uttering.

Matt gave in and let his hands fall back to the covers despite the rapid rise in his heartbeat as Mello's hand drifted lower; he wouldn't normally be this anxious but the sudden knowledge that Near had to be watching this seemed to make him overly sensitive. His plan to torment Near had backfired on him as he was now the one tormented. He gave a small whimper into the kiss that was rapidly robbing him of oxygen, and he felt Mello's lips form a smile against his own. He knew then how much Mello was enjoying what he was doing to him and that seemed to make it all the more pleasurable and unbearable at the same time. Yet he had hardly been touched.

As he felt, more than heard, Matt whimper into the kiss Mello knew that ensuring his hand travelled as slowly as possible had allowed the redhead enough time to remember that he was under observation. He struck then, his hand completing its journey and squeezed the front of Matt's tight trousers, palm and fingers pressed tightly against the already hard length he could feel beneath.

It had the desired effect.

Matt moaned loudly into the kiss and Mello pulled away so he could admire the suddenly wide-eyed expression on the computer genius' face. He couldn't resist rubbing the bulge in Matt's trousers once more and to his surprise his partner pressed up against him wanting _more_ attention even if he blushed with the knowledge that Near was definitely watching this. To reassure himself that this was the case he tore himself away from the oh so pleasing expression before him and looked at the other object of his affections.

Near swallowed almost painfully as he heard Matt moan as Mello's hand worked at him. He wanted to either be the one touching Matt, or the one receiving those attentions, or to be involved in some way. He wanted to touch them both, but he couldn't. He stared imploringly at the scene before him as he felt his body react all too quickly to the arousing sight before him and he tugged at the bonds. Heat flooded through him and made his arousal all the worse as Matt began to respond to Mello's touch and press up into his hand as Mello stared down at him. He went from wanting to be part of the scene before him to just being taken in by the sheer erotic appeal it had. To see the two people he loved so involved made his whole body tingle and he could feel his chest heave as he continued to stare at them.

Then Mello looked up at him and his breath caught in his throat.

The eyes that met his were not the usual blue of Mello's eyes, they were darker and filled with the future promise that what he was seeing was in his own future but he would have to wait and see this torment of not being involved out until Mello saw fit to release him. From the smirk that spread across Mello's face and made the back of Near's neck heat as he saw it, that would not be for some time. Shakily he attempted to lick his suddenly dry lips and he knew that the shake of his lips had not been missed by the man watching him so closely.

"Look at Near," Mello said, his words directed at Matt but loud enough for both people to hear him, "Look how much he wants to touch you, how much he wants to be a part of this too. Look how much seeing you like this makes him want you Mail."

The errant gamer turned his gaze towards Near and he shuddered in arousal as he saw the undisguised want and desire that was focused in his direction; it was obvious Near was very much affected by what he saw. Their eyes met and Matt found he couldn't tear his gaze away, and his breathing became erratic as a hand worked its way underneath his stripped top and caressed the smooth skin of his chest before reaching up further to rub and pinch at his nipples. He cried out loudly as he jerked in Mello's grip, but he didn't break his eye contact with Near. He gave another cry of pleasure as Mello worked at his erection harder through his trousers, and he realised he was already so aroused that the fabric was becoming damp and pressing against his length. He was this close to the edge and his tormentor hadn't touched him properly yet.

He gazed at Near with an almost imploring expression, as if the bound man could aide him with his predicament. He knew he couldn't, he had suggested he be put there in the first place and he knew Mello was treating him like this _because_ he had wanted Near bound like this but hadn't thought of anything further. He didn't know whether Mello was punishing him or not, and he ground into Mello's hand, almost up onto his knees now as he attempted to find some sort of release from one of the emotions that bore down on him at least. He didn't even care what he looked like as he did this, he just needed _something. _He was to be denied even that, as both of Mello's hands suddenly vanished from his body, leaving him in an arousal filled void where his body still cried out to be touched and he had a brief insight into how Near was feeling right now before the blonde man behind him was speaking to him once more.

"Take off your clothes Mail," Mello commanded, and the tone of his voice brooked no disagreement. There wasn't a trace of hesitation in Matt's movements as he stumbled from the bed and pulled off his goggles and let the drop to the floor before working hastily at his clothes. There was no seduction to his actions yet he could feel the heated gaze of both his lovers on him as he did so, seemingly becoming more with each item he removed. He glanced up through his fringe and saw this was the case, Near's fingers twitching slightly as if he wanted to come and help Matt with their removal. Mello though looked just as predatory as he had before and the redhead gulped.

Mello smirked as he saw the sudden apprehension on Matt's face, and with as graceful movement as possible he too rose from the bed on the opposite side to the redhead, and began to strip. Where Matt's movements had been hasty and clumsy, his were slow and intentionally so. He wanted to leave his two lovers in an even longer state of anticipation; it was one of the things guaranteed to make his _own_ arousal grow before he had truly touched either of his lovers. When he finished he gave a now shaking Matt a happy smile and strode the small distance to the bedside table and flipped the bottle there up into his hand, before returning to his place on the bed. In the strained silence he gave Near the same happy smile he had given Matt. Then he turned to stare at Matt, beckoning him over with a wave of is empty hand.

He pulled him into another passionate kiss the moment he was within reach, pulling Matt onto his lap and letting their erections rub against each other. He grinned as Matt shuddered in his arms, and threw his head back to moan loudly, a moan that was mirrored by the bound Near. Mello decided then, that enough was enough.

"I think it's time to stop teasing Near don't you?" Mello murmured, "and he's definitely wearing far too many clothes. I think it's best if you let him go now."

Near gave a small sound of happiness as Matt suddenly turned to face him and shifted towards him; it seemed he was at last going to be given what he had been craving since the moment he had been bound here. He was either going to be touched or released. It seemed it was both as Matt crawled over his body to straddle his waist and looked into his eyes for a moment before he kissed him, hands running along his arms to tug at the blue fabric and loosen the hold they had on Near's arms. Near barely noticed their removal though, he was too wrapped up in the feeling of Matt's warm lips on his; kissing him so forcefully his head was pressed back into the metalwork of the bed. It was divine to at last have contact from one of his lovers and to have so much of Matt's body pressed up against his just made it all the more perfect, he just wished his own clothes weren't in the way.

Mello smiled as he took in the sight of Near and Matt kissing so passionately, he knew he was responsible for them acting so fervently right now, and that made him feel more powerful than anything else ever could and he felt his groin tighten in response. He wanted them right now, no matter how much this sight was so delectable.

"Matt, I told you to remove his clothes and let him go, not kiss him senseless," Mello said, his voice tinged with his arousal.

Apparently unrepentant Matt pulled away from Near and grinned back at Mello, it seemed he had quite recovered from Mello's teasing of him in the time he had been kissing the man he still straddled. His smile twisted into a surprise gasp though as Nears hands were suddenly caressing his chest and leaning forward to place kisses against Matt's torso. The white haired man had obviously realised that he had been freed.

"Please Matt," Near said suddenly, pausing in his motions to press his forehead against the gamer's hot skin.

Near's words spurred Matt into action, there was no other course he could take. It was so difficult for Near to ever put into words what he wanted in situations like this, that when he did it meant that his need had to be burning through his veins. It would take a crueller person than Matt, or even Mello to deny the small man what he wanted. He shifted off Near and tugged at his loose, white trousers easily pulling them off Near's frame and baring the underwear beneath; his hands pulled those down with more difficulty as Near shakily tried to tug off his own shirt. But at last Near too was naked, his body fallen to lie completely on the bed his hair even more dishevelled than before and he stared up at Matt with triumphant, if arousal filled, eyes.

It was Matt's turn to lay gentle kisses down Near's chest and he delighted in the small shivers and gasps of pleasure this brought from Near and he slowly made his way southwards towards his inevitable destination. He was a mere few inches from laying the first gentle kiss to Near's already straining erection when his whole body went rigid and he couldn't hold back a small cry as two fingers forced their way inside him and curled to press unerringly against his prostate.

"I hope that sound of surprise didn't mean you had forgotten about me," Mello chuckled, and he shifted his well lubed fingers slightly to cause another tremor to pass through Matt.

"How could I?" Matt gasped, "But that would surprise anyone."

"I disagree," Mello commented, his voice surprisingly level as he shifted his fingers back and forth inside Matt in time to his words, "After all these years you should know this is precisely something I would do.... Oh don't neglect Near that's hardly fair."

Mello's final words were said with a small laugh, for Matt was crouched tense above the smallest of the trio, his hands clawed into the sheets at Mello's actions; his face under Near's intent observation. His small laugh spurred Matt back into action though, and it was Near's turn to cry out in startled pleasure as Matt took his length entirely into his mouth. He sucked it hard enough to make the white haired man through his head back in pleasure and tangle his fingers into Matt's hair before they fell to the bed and twitched uselessly at every attention Matt paid to his length.

Near barely noticed as Matt slowly raised his legs so his feet were flat on the bed and pushed them apart so he could rest between them more easily. He did notice though, as like Mello, Matt took him completely by surprise with the intrusion of a lubed finger into him. He jolted up from the bed, eyes wide, as the finger pushed into him and he couldn't help clamping down around it briefly before forcing himself to relax.

"Hypocrite," Near gasped, as the finger was soon joined by another and began scissoring in and out of him in rapid motions that had him crying out a confusion of pain and pleasure. For Matt was still resolutely working at his erection with his mouth, sucking at his flesh and licking at his sensitive head before nipping at the pulsing vein beneath. He was teetering at the edge just from this and was almost ready to beg his two lovers to let him come.

Mello smirked as he heard Near's gasp and he knew full well what Matt must have done to the startle man below him. It was always pleasing to see that the man he was hurriedly preparing was a fast learner. With one hand he slowly massaged his own straining erection, needing some relief to the yearning that was growing within him. He knew he needed more than this soon though as he could feel his control fraying and could hear his breathing becoming as equally ragged as those of his two lovers. As if by thinking about it he had ruined it, his control broke in that instance and he could no longer hold back and admire the scene before him, he needed more and he needed more now.

"I'm going to enter you now," Mello, leaning over the bent man's back so he could whisper into Matt's ear.

Matt groaned at Mello's words, and despite the knot of heady anticipation that coiled in his stomach he forced himself to continue preparing Near. He knew he wouldn't have the ability to do it properly afterwards, and he didn't want to cause Near pain. But he quickly ran out of time, and he gave a whimper of pleasure as he was pulled back flush with Mello's chest once more before being lowered completely onto his captor's erection. He struggled to relax around the length impaled inside him, his difficulties made all the worse as he heard Mello's small sounds of pleasure as he tensed his muscles around him. It became almost impossible though as Near closed a hand around his length his way slickened by precum and the lube that covered his hand. The added stimulation was almost too much for Matt and he let his head fall back onto Mello's shoulder and simply lost himself in the pleasure; a vague thought telling him that his plan had indeed backfired quite badly.

"Unless you want to make joining in nearly impossible Nate," Mello growled, his voice cutting through Matt's reverie, "you need to speed up."

Near frowned as he heard Mello's words, he didn't want to speed up. He enjoyed touching Matt and Mello too much and he had been so cruelly denied that ability for much of the evening. Yet he also knew that Mello was right, he needed to speed up, besides what came next could be considered better than simply touching. He leant forward and began to wrap his arms around Matt's neck so he could climb up into his lap, but the redhead suddenly pushed him down on the bed and still with Mello inside him shifted over him, a ripple of pleasure visibly passing through him as Mello was unable to avoid thrusting harshly in and out of the man below him.

"Will you get on with it," Mello nearly yelled in frustration, before biting down into Matt's neck almost hard enough to draw blood. He was shaking with the effort of keeping still, every fibre of his body was screaming at him to just take Matt now and ignore what the other two were doing, but he just managed to keep control of his body. He had to hold on.

The redhead took Mello's words to heart, shifting Near's legs apart and angling the white haired man's hips upwards before he thrust into Near's willing body in one swift thrust; an action which raised all three of their voices in relieved pleasure. Matt could do no more than that though as he was lost in the feeling of Mello impaled deep inside him while he was encased in the tight heat that was Near's ass. With all the arousal that filled his mind it was almost too much for him to bear, yet still that tight knot of coiling tension building inside had yet to break. Then Mello began to move.

It was with a heady delight that Mello began to move rapidly in and out of Matt's body, his chest pressed tight against Matt's back. He could tell by the groans of both his partners that his powerful thrusts were effecting the two below him greatly and he pressed sloppy kisses to Matt's shoulder over the bite mark already there as his gaze fixed on Near's flushed face. With growing awkwardness he groped for Near's hand in the tangle that was their bodies and he smiled down at Near as he gripped it tightly. His pleasure was so great that he felt as though he were thrusting into both bodies beneath him not just the one. He gave a harsh strangled cry, blonde hair falling about his face, he knew he was close to climaxing now and he only hoped his lovers were too.

Near gripped at Mello's hand tightly as it served to be his only lifeline, he could do nothing but accept the pleasure of Matt's erection shifting back and forth inside him and pressing so delightfully up against his prostate. He knew he wouldn't be able to work efficiently in the morning; he never could when he was taken in such a way, but he didn't care. This way made it feel like he was being taken by both his lovers at the same time, and it was a feeling he wouldn't give up for the world. As his gaze locked with Mello's he teetered on the edge and would have screamed to have been able to come had his throat been working, but he could barely breathe through his ecstasy let alone give voice to his feelings. He did fall though as Matt somehow found the strength to add more force to Mello's next thrust. His mind went blank and his ass muscles clamped almost painfully around Matt's erection as he coated their stomachs with his release, before he lay limp on the bed unable to even squeeze Mello's hand as his mind lost itself in the heady afterglow. Near's climax set off a delightful chain reaction as Matt and Mello quickly followed him over the edge and they collapsed into a messy heap on the bed; mind's a haze of pleasure and released tension.

Awkwardly they reached for each other needing to touch both of their lovers before they could be truly relaxed. After they were reassured that the other's were indeed still there they fell into a happy stupor.

...

In silence Matsuda listened to the Contact's report, her low quiet voice the only sound in the large room. They were sat on two comfortable chairs that overlooked the grounds of the house, the remains of a meal on the oak table behind them. He smiled as he listened to her report, it was mostly good news and idle gossip from the other contacts. Nothing of any importance, for now at least. He merely took delight in having the company of someone other than the trio that was still high enough in the Wammy's organisation to be trusted.

He beamed over at her as he listened to the particularly amusing tale of a certain ambassador's party that resulted in a series of incidents that would mean several leading government ministers of three countries would lose their jobs if it ever came to the attention of the world press. He didn't even consciously notice the happy gleam in her hazelnut coloured eyes, or notice the tired way her hand ran through her blonde hair that was cropped so that it was only as long as those fingers that passed through it. Her name was Josephine Anderson, but preferred to be called Jo and heaven forbid anyone forget that as she was one of L's original contacts and had ways of ensuring people remembered as well as forgot.

"They did know I was coming didn't they?" Jo asked suddenly, breaking the happy calm that had formed as she reached for the half empty wine glass before her.

Matsuda winced at her question and the resignation in her tone, if there was one thing that he hated in his job it was making excuses for the trio to the people that served them so faithfully. He supposed it as partially his own fault for never finding some way to punish them for it, but then he couldn't he didn't have the special place that Wammy had held over L.

"They did, but-"

"You don't have to make excuses to me," Jo said quickly, "you forget that I served the original L before them. At least they have never woken me at three in the morning, and they were at least hospitable enough to offer me a room."

"I hadn't forgotten," Matsuda commented, and as Jo was at last not able to hold back a yawn added, "How about I show you to that offered room?"

"That would be wonderful. I've been up since four this morning and that was four time zones before this one."

Matsuda laughed as he rose and took her wineglass, along with his, to stand next to the empty plate on the table.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help with the dishes first?" Jo asked, coming to stand by Matsuda and obviously holding back another yawn.

"We have a dishwasher Jo, all modern technology here. Besides I think you'd break something tonight," Matsuda joked, he laughed harder as Jo narrowed her eyes at him before turning completely unaffected by her glare to lead her to a suitable room in the rambling mansion.

"Ah, this is lovely," Jo sighed, as he ushered her into the large room tastefully decorated in a distinctly modern style.

A door leading to an ensuite was just visible from where Matsuda stayed hovering by the entrance. He didn't step further into the room, just watched Jo explore it briefly a happy smile on his face that he had picked well for his friend. For Jo and he had become fast friends since they had first met when Matsuda had been given this position by the trio and had been introduced to the most trusted people that served them.

"Don't tell them this," Jo said suddenly as she sank down onto the bed, "but I'm actually grateful I won't be heading out tonight. Do you think I could get away with staying here a few days?"

"Knowing them they wouldn't mind at all, unless something comes up," Matsuda replied, "besides, considering they brushed you off tonight, Matt and Near at least will attempt to ensure you are more than happy."

"Not Mello?" Jo queried, looking at Matsuda quizzically.

"Oh, he will too, but he won't be so obvious about it."

Jo fell back onto the bed laughing loudly, evidently in agreement with Matsuda. She had learned enough about the trio in the past few years to know their caretaker was speaking the truth.

"Goodnight Jo," Matsuda said, his trademark grin in place.

"Goodnight Matsuda," Jo sighed, and she raised a hand languidly to wave at his rough direction.

Chuckling softly he closed the door and left the tired contact to sleep.

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A/N; Don't get worried about the lack of a cliff hanger, just consider it a New Year's treat.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N; Well, I know it has been a long time between updates, but life has become rather busy with uni work and finding something to do after uni. The most difficult part of which is finding out who I am to go with it, suddenly choosing a uni four years ago looks like a very easy choice compared to this one. Though I will try to find more time to write, and a way to get rid of the damn writer's block that fills my mind. So hopefully this will be the first of a steady stream of updates, as if there is any story that I want to keep going it is this one. Thank you for bearing with me through all of this my wonderful readers, your patience is much appreciated.

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http :// www .formspring .me/ Dragonrider4000 Please feel free to go here and ask me questions. I shall try to keep up with them even if I'm not posting regularly! So please feel free to come and visit. (The spaces will need to be removed first, but it was the only way I had to share this with you.)

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May I also advertise the works of my wonderful friend **Dotti55**, she has recently begun writing Death Note fanfiction and her stories are definitely well worth the read. I hope that you will take some time to go and read them.

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I shall stop babbling on now. Please read and review!

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Chapter 6

Mello smiled as he awoke to the gentle kiss that was laid on his cheek, his grin broadening as another was quickly placed on his other cheek, brushing over his scars. His lovers were the only people who knew how to wake him, and to wake him in a happy mood; around them he rarely thought of his scars either. He would never admit it, but he always felt a small bout of self consciousness when he went among large crowds of people. Matt and near were gradually helping him forget though, he only ever seemed to think of his scars now when they were either touching or kissing them, it made him happy.

Of their own accord his arms rose and pulled the two other men close against his chest. He opened his eyes briefly to see them both exchanging a happy smile. For a moment he wondered whether to comment on it, but after the night they had just shared anyone would be full of smiles and it was far too early in the morning to start teasing them...

"What time is it?" Mello asked, his voice quiet and brittle from his long sleep.

"Ten thirty," Near sighed, and he sounded just as tired and lazy as Mello. It was quite the feat and the blond couldn't help but feel a moment's pride.

"Matsuda has been in twice by the way," Matt added, his voice still filled with its usual bubbly happiness, "He brought coffee but you wouldn't wake."

"We work better in the afternoon anyway," Mello sighed, unwilling to leave the bed. He was far too comfy and peaceful where he was.

"Only because you like to lounge in bed all morning," Near said with a smirk, he knew Mello was a firm night owl and would stay up long into the night working while he and Matt slept, but Near couldn't help but dig a little.

"Well it's not as if we have anything pleasant to do today," Mello muttered, some of his happy mood leaving him, "I'm not looking forward to phoning L again and telling him that the case he never solved is back on the table because more people have died."

"Well it needs to be done," Near replied, "I'm sure he will understand."

"Near's right," Matt sighed, sitting up to slump on the bed, gaze fixed on the sheets, "Not telling him would be worse in the long run, and as it stands he's the only 'witness' we have."

"I know," Mello said harshly, and he stared up at the ceiling a frown wrinkling his brow as he contemplated the day before him, "I think we should tell Light first. L may need him."

"That may be the best thing," Near said, "He may need to be prepared, we do not know how L will react."

"I think things will be alright," Matt said suddenly, "He told us about it after all."

Mello smiled, Matt was right.

"I think it's time we got up," Mello commented as he finally sat up, and he gave his two partners one of his trademarks smirks. Today wasn't going to be as bad a day as he had thought, and this realisation made his smirk deepen. Besides he had a contact to talk to.

...

The three of them hurried along the corridor to the main living space of the mansion, a spacious two room spread that began as a library filled with ancient books and finished in a large seating area that surrounded a not so ancient and well used set of games consoles and TV.

They all felt guilt for leaving Jo for so long without debriefing her, but they knew Matsuda would have talked to her almost immediately... and they also knew he would have come and informed them of anything of importance immediately no matter what they were doing. However they knew they had passed rudeness a long time ago and no doubt an apology of some type would be needed soon; no matter how much such a thing gnawed at Mello.

To their great surprise then, they found her not waiting for them with an annoyed expression but sat next to Matsuda as they played one of Matt's many racing games. By the grim look of determination on both their faces it was evident they were taking it quite seriously.

"Who's winning?" Matt asked, the only one of the trio able to make a comment about what they were seeing and not laugh.

"He is," Jo ground out her teeth gritted, and to the trio's surprise Matsuda gave a small wicked laugh that was so unlike him. It was not often the relaxed man showed such a fervour for competition, in fact they had only ever seen him like this once before. When he had been doing some target practice with Mello, it seemed his ability to use a gun was a skill the man held close to his heart. Mello hadn't had to let him win, Matsuda had won outright. Matt had a sneaking suspicion that was the day Mello had truly considered the Japanese Detective his equal.

"How many races have you done?" Near asked then, and his voice carried with it a small sound of disbelief, or perhaps even slight censure.

"This will be race number thirty three," Matsuda replied casually, not taking his eyes off the screen where the two cars were racing, well ahead of the rest of the group.

"Why so many?" Near inquired, obviously totally confused by the pair's activities. It was far outside the usual behaviour for the two people. Though Matt thought he already knew the answer, they had become quite bored with waiting for the trio to appear and this was a very logical conclusion.

"Whoever had one less when we reached an agreed end point argued for the number to be increased," Jo explained, her words almost spoken through gritted teeth.

"Does everyone inherit L's dislike of losing when they're around him?" Mello commented, flopping down with his usual smirk onto an unoccupied dark leather sofa and gesturing at Matt and near to join him. He couldn't help grinning though as Near curled up at his feet, knees drawn close to his chest, and head resting against his leg, sometimes the white haired man was just too cute. His grin broadened as Matt's head landed in his lap, hands already holding a DS above his face. For a brief moment everything felt truly right with the world.

He said nothing as he watched Matsuda and Jo continue to race, he knew that he would not have to say anything for it to be the last race. No-one who worked for them would ever need such a hint, they would do it without thinking. More than once he felt grateful for the stringent level of training and choice making that L and Wammy had employed when choosing his staff. Mello was proven right as the game was swiftly closed and tidied away by a very smug looking Matsuda; the smugness spoiled perhaps by the almost infuriating level of innocence he managed to exude despite the passage of years.

"So what do you have to report Jo?" Mello asked, finally fishing in a pocket for his bar of chocolate. If he was now forced to work again it was more than necessary.

"Nothing of great importance," Jo sighed becoming her usual serious self once more, "The usual scandals and political rumours. There were a few interesting local cases that you might have been interested in, but the local police forces seemed more than capable at dealing with them. I do have some information on E but I'm not sure it tells you anything beyond the information you have already provided me with. Though –"

"No matter what it is please share it with us," Near said suddenly, "We do not know what information may become useful in the future."

"It seems he was approached when he was staying with the family Wammy sent him to live with after the fire," Jo said quietly, "Not after he left. Whoever they were it seems they knew he was there and was important enough to deal with."

"This is not useless information Jo," Matt muttered, and his tone was almost chiding. Again Mello and Near couldn't help but acknowledge that underneath that happy go lucky appearance was perhaps a brain to rival even L's.

"From what we could find out he was approached only because they thought he was a member of the mafia, _not_ because he was from Wammy's. From the little information we have, it seems he let them believe that until they were in too deep. Probably because he liked the deal they were offering."

"So he never betrayed Wammy's then," Mello growled, taking a bite of chocolate.

"He was about to though," Near countered, "It's the only reason we came into contact with him."

"I'm not so sure," Matt muttered, "The more I think on this, the more I think E was the leak that gave us the break on the case. He was far too unsurprised at our presence. He knew."

"We'll never know his true motives now though," Mello said, his voice harsh, "now someone's shot him in the head, now that he didn't see coming."

"The only thing I wonder on," Matt added slowly, as he brought his game back up, "Is why he chose now to break cover. He must have had something to tell us."

For a moment the others in the room considered the implications of this. Yet they all knew that they were unlikely to know just what E thought so necessary to share that he had to meet the trio, and couldn't share on the phone. That was, if Matt was right.

"Anything else?" Near asked at last, looking up at Jo questioningly.

The trio sat in silence and listened to the now mundane chatter Jo had to share about the goings on in a surprisingly quiet Europe. They supposed they should only be grateful, it gave them more time to work on the complex case in hand, and work out the puzzle about E. Throughout it all Mello continued to fret about phoning L.

...

Quiet typing filled the sunlit room, the silence heightened by the sound of laughter from the garden outside. The dark haired man at the desk smiled as he heard them, he would have loved to be out there with them, but occasionally the cases he worked on nowadays called for his attention within due time; particularly if his trip to the UK was going to take up his time from tomorrow. Curled up beneath the desk a black cat meowed quietly and L smiled, pleased that he wasn't entirely alone in here.

He looked over the scanty case notes before him, and for the first time since beginning his new career he was at a loss as to how to continue. Or rather, he still hoped he could find an alternative way to the solution he had already found and indeed was travelling back to the UK for, but he couldn't. He was going to meet a client face to face for the first time. He didn't _have _to, he knew that, but he knew that in this sort of instance anything else would stand out more and he didn't want that. Besides when the lady in question was in her seventies...

_Maria Casteley_ _first contacted police on the fifth of March 1974 on the sudden disappearance of her daughter Danielle Casteley, 26 at the time, leaving her two year old son and husband of four years behind. At the time police tried all methods at their disposal then in order to locate her, but were unable to do so. Initial reports suggested that she may have been kidnapped, but it was later found that she had been saving for many years and on the day of her disappearance she withdrew those savings. This was the last verified sighting of her in the country; she was never seen again. Neither her mother, nor her husband had known of the substantial savings and the reason for her disappearance was never found. However it did insure that police at the time changed her case from that of a kidnapping to an unknown disappearance. After several months the police declared the case cold and the files put in storage until any further information became apparent._

_Her mother, Maria, never stopped looking though and to this day continues to strive after the daughter she lost. Despite the lack of any recent clues and the lack of contact between Danielle and anyone in her previous life it is doubtful that she could ever be found unless someone with greater reach than the police takes charge._

"And that would be me," L murmured, staring at the final line. He wondered if Wammy had sought to guilt trip him into taking on this case for what was an obviously still distraught woman – L's gaze flicked to the letter from Maria – he knew he would never have needed guilt tripping into taking such a case, even before he had met Light this would have been a case well worth his attention.

He also knew with some sense of pride that he was still faster at this than the trio, he had not been able to resist going head on with them over a case. They had never known it was him, and he had revelled in finding the answer two whole days before them. Sometimes he wished that he had actually sent his information to the police and claimed the reward, it would have been so nostalgic; but he knew that if he had then the trio would have chased after their competitor ruthlessly. It would have been what he would have done. So he continued on as he was, and he had to admit to being happy in a whole new way when working like this. When he was working like this it was all about the mental challenge and the satisfaction that at the end of the day he was making everyone happy at the end of it and never once had to talk to the police about any of it.

L smiled, and his hand moved to pick up a small cupcake from a tray nearby, the decoration was haphazard and bright, neon green he wished his daughter hadn't picked such a.. vibrant... colour. He didn't like having a tray of cakes that he felt slightly apprehensive about eating, but they tasted delicious. He had spent the morning with Eleanor and Light in the kitchen helping her cook them. He was still sure that much of the decorations had disappeared inside her before they had ever reached the tops of the small cakes, but he couldn't complain he too had found the small baubles difficult to resist. It hadn't help that Light had kept feeding them to him either...

L shook himself as he realised how distracted he had become, he knew he was developing quite the bad habit in always doing this when he was working. Yet he couldn't seem to stop himself from thinking about his family at every turn. He tried to be annoyed with himself and failed, he couldn't get angry at such a slip, he enjoyed thinking about his family too much.

L frowned then, turning to stare at the photo of the happily smiling woman in her late twenties, Danielle, why would she leave her family? From what L had been able to learn she had just a happy family life as he did, nothing to want for and so much to look forward to... so why leave it so willingly. L could think of nothing that would entice him to leave all that he had built here. Suddenly this case felt oddly personal, he wanted to find this Danielle and ask her why she had needed to leave. Meeting her mother in person seemed far more necessary now, and a burst of eagerness passed through him as he contemplated his new thoughts about the case.

Absently he reached for another cupcake and turned back to his work. With great reluctance he tidied away the papers about the missing Danielle and turned towards another case. Despite his interest in the case he already knew there was nothing more that could be done until he met Maria. He worked on, solving three apparently tricky cases in the space of an hour as he spotted things that the police had not, or accessing services that the police didn't have access to. Occasionally he reached out for more of the vibrantly coloured cakes, more than once briefly startled by the decorative silver balls that Eleanor had insisted on using. A small smile was always on his face as he heard the occasional sounds of laughter from the garden, or Light's

"That's enough for today," L said with a small sigh as he finished consuming the final small cake and smiling down at Rigel, "Besides, I have run out of cake."

L rose from his chair and looked back across the small space that was his office. More of a private landing it looked out over the main open plan living space down onto the collection of sofas and seating by the large glass windows that looked out over the garden, the kitchen area directly beneath. It was perhaps an unusual place for his office he knew, but his cases were no longer as confidential as they once were, and Wammy's security technology could protect a space without doors as well as they could a space with them. He supposed he had chosen such a space over others because there was room enough for Light to be up here writing as well, and even if he was working he was never truly separated from his family.

Crouching down he helped Rigel up onto his shoulders, a position that the black and white spotted cat still favoured despite being slightly too big to sit comfortably there. At least from L's point of view, if he had ever any reason to hunch before it was now caused by a cat instead. He headed out towards the sounds of Light and Eleanor in the garden, he shook his head slightly in amusement as he heard the slightly annoyed tones his partner was using. It was always funny to see Light trying to be mad at Eleanor for misbehaving, he was never able to stay angry at the little girl for long.

He was therefore taken completely by surprise as the phone rang behind him; his head jerked round to stare with wide, round eyes at the offending object. He always hated phones; they were useful for contacting people with, but receiving calls... that was one of the reasons he had always appreciated having Wammy around. One of many reasons to be sure. With another sigh, a hand rising to run in abjection through his hair he went and answered the phone. He didn't know whether to be reassured or not that the ID told him it was Mello.

"Hello Mello," L said with no trace of his inner musings in his voice, "Which old Wammy's house resident has been found this time? Or have you found a new cake based description for me?"

"No, nothing like that L," Mello replied, and the serious and completely adult tone to the blonde haired man's tone put L immediately on edge.

"What's wrong Mello?" L asked, his stance subtly shifting back into the one he always used to have all those years ago.

"It's difficult to explain," Mello sighed, and there was the definite sound of him falling back onto something that was almost certainly a sofa.

"That just makes me even more worried," L commented, and he padded in bare feet out of the house, through the small courtyard and onto the lawn beyond, "I assume you want Light to know this as well, and even if you don't, I do."

Mello said nothing to this and L took it as quiet acceptance; yet another thing that put him on edge. He realised he didn't like it at all when the usually boisterous mafia leader was serious and so _mature_.

"Ah, coming to join us?" Light said happily as he saw his lover approaching, looking up from his almost horizontal position on a blanket spread out on the lawn, "Jason and I were just discussing having a barbecue..."

His words trailed off as he saw L's face, and the detective could only assume that his emotions were showing clearly on his face.

"What is it?" Light asked, forcing himself up to his feet to stand by L looking decidedly concerned.

"Daddy?" Eleanor murmured, and L looked down to see her staring up at him with wide worried eyes.

"It's nothing to worry about," L managed to say, "You just stay here with Jason and plan the barbecue. Surprise us with something exciting."

In silence L padded back into the house, phone held between finger and thumb at his side as Light strode beside him. His worry almost completely diffused as Light's hand suddenly found his and squeezed it gently, but then his presence had always helped him. He put the handset on speaker and placed it on the kitchen counter and hopped up onto a stool as Light closed the door.

"Okay, Light is here now. Mello, what are you calling about?" L asked, gaze fixed on the phone as Light shifted to perch on another stool at the long breakfast bar; his gaze mostly curious as it fixed on L.

"L, how much do you remember about your early cases these days?" Mello said, and L would have smiled at Light's reaction to the tone of the leader of the trio's voice, but he was too concerned about it himself to be amused.

"I remember brief overviews of a great deal of them," L replied, "Many were pivotal cases in my early career. They were worth remembering. Which in particular did you want to dredge up today?"

"The case that Wammy never let you finish," Mello said, his voice cautious and every word seemed carefully chosen as if he was expecting a very bad reaction indeed.

For a moment L stared down at the floor, his face dark as he tried to bring to mind the case Mello was referring to. It wasn't hard. This case had been the one that had made Wammy lay down some ground rules. L had fought against them at the time, but it had been the first time in his life that he had seen such images. As first times went it had been one of the worst ways to be introduced to what a dead body looked like, and he had been only seven at the time. It had been one of the reasons he had wanted everyone who came to Wammy's House to be given a childhood, to be allowed to have fun while the content they viewed was strictly monitored. He supposed he had never really wanted to return to the case, despite never solving it, because of the way his mind remembered those images even now... and for the fact that this was the case that had first disturbed his sleep and begun his never ending cycle of insomnia. Something that had only ended when Light had come into his life.

Yet now it seemed he was going to be made to feel guilty once more for not doing something. Yet again he was confronted with a situation that was caused because he had not acted; for he knew that Mello would only be calling about this if the killer had returned. People had to have died, a lot of people, it was the only way the trio would have ended up with the case.

"L?"

L started as a voice cut through his dark thoughts, and he blinked as he heard his name called again.

"L?"

He shook himself slightly and looked up into Light's worried eyes.

"I'm sorry," L muttered, "I was just thinking back over this case. It's not the most pleasant of experiences. There were reasons I never returned to this case after all... I assume you are contacting me because several deaths have occurred that relate to this case, or have the potential to be a continuation of this case?"

The last was said towards the phone and in a much more confident tone.

"Yes." The reply sounded out of the small device, this time in the voice of Near.

"And we need to know what else you can recall," Matt added, "The records left by the police are near useless, they can tell us nothing."

At Matt's words L sighed, and his thumb rose to his mouth as he hunched over further in the seat.

"I'm the only surviving 'official' aren't I," L said suddenly, and he glanced at Light to see that he too had come to the same conclusion; at least that's what he took the horror struck expression to mean, "The killer found all the police."

"Yes," Near said again, and he sounded as tense as Mello.

Light couldn't help staring at L again at Near's tone. He had already realised that this case was something special, something extreme, for it to be one L never completed, he had not thought such a thing was possible. L had told him of hundreds of cases, had spent what had to be weeks just sat talking with him about his cases; something which counted as something of a past for the detective. Light was sure he would have remembered such a case from those wonderful days, but there was nothing. So this had to be something that had hurt L deeply, and so that cut at Light as well.

"I'm travelling to the UK tomorrow, so I can meet with you any time about this," L said quietly, staring at Light as he did so, "I need to think about this before I answer any more questions you have."

Light knew what L meant with that stare, L was asking him to not begin interrogating him the moment the trio were off the phone. He gave him a small understanding smile in return, he hoped L already understood that he would never have to worry about Light doing that. He would always wait until L was ready; it was the way things had always been between them.

"L," Matt said suddenly, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, quite alright," L replied, and only Light could see the shadows that lingered round his eyes. It pained him that L's past was filled with so many haunting memories, he was only grateful that he was able to change that. "Is there anything else you wanted to share with us?"

"No, it was just this," Mello commented, his voice almost back to normal.

"Then I'll speak to you again when I arrive back in the UK," L said softly, rising from his chair and reaching for the phone, "Goodbye."

Before Light or the trio could even say goodbye to each other L ended the call, and stayed hunched over the counter, hands pressed against the cool marble surface staring wildly down at it. He started in surprise as a hand came to rest on his shoulder and he looked up into Light's worried gaze.

"I really am alright Light," L said hurriedly, and he managed a smile. He really was alright too; it had just been a shock. It had taken him quite some time to forget the images of that case, and he had shied away from ever looking at it again despite being tempted to several times. He was only grateful Wammy had taken it from him; it made the case not seem like a loss and allowed him to stay away from what had shaken him so much mentally. He smiled as Light wordlessly drew him close and held him in the comfort of his arms.

"I know you asked me not to ask _you_ what that was all about," Light said suddenly, sounding like he was trying to suppress a laugh something L knew was all for show, "but I'm dying of curiosity here."

"You know I began solving cases for the police when I was only six," L began, "but I never had to deal with a murder case, well a murder case with pictures until this particular one. It was not like most cases, and I don't think I've seen many like it or many worse-"

L paused briefly as Light's arms tightened round him slightly at those words.

"-Wammy did not know what cases I was taking till then. I don't think he truly understood the extent of my abilities to gather data or find out about cases that were not public knowledge. Before that point I had been chronically bored and this outflow for my mind was too much for me to be long hindered by obstacles. All I was thinking of then was solving the puzzle before me; it wasn't till this case that I truly comprehended the world I was joining."

"I don't know how long I stared at the crime scene photos of the victims, all I know was that Wammy was suddenly lifting me up and away from them forbidding me to look at the case again. The day after he had begun the initial set up for what would become 'L the Detective' and all my cases came through him first. I suppose he had decided that if he could not stop me from doing this or stop me from moving on to the more complex but more horrific cases, then all he could do was regulate how I did it."

"A few months later there were a series of bomb attacks in Winchester, and I was able to track down the terrorists that had done them and stop several more attacks. This announced me onto the international scene as a credible private detective and cases began to be directed to me. These were almost always more complex than anything I had before so it was easy to 'forget' about the one I was not allowed to touch."

"I never really noticed then, but that was when _he_ and a few others arrived at Wammy's house," L said, continuing to explain why he had not solved this case, he felt Light's arms tighten even further around him and he wondered how he was still able to breathe, "It was my guardian's subtle attempts to ensure that the sudden drop in crime that I created, and the power I wielded was not lost should I die. I had already comprehended then that I was a great target for people wanting to ensure they could commit a crime more easily and I began to hide myself away from even some of the people at Wammy's... You know well what that caused."

"How could I not?" Light whispered, and L hoped he hadn't worded it badly or caused Light pain, "And you don't need to justify yourself to me L."

"I'm not," L said, sounding surprised and to Light's own surprise slightly ignored, "I felt that the case needed explaining in such way, I was just explaining the circumstances. Plus there is really very little besides the pictures, and the names of the officers involved that I remember at the moment. I am upset that this case has resurfaced once more, but I do not know how what I know can aid the trio. Of course I may remember something before I meet with them; this was many years ago after all."

"I wish you didn't have to think about this at all," Light commented, "I barely know what's going on and it's still enough for me to worry for you."

"They need me to remember," L replied, pulling away from Light to sit on one of the nearby stools again, "There is no-one else who can. I know they would never bring it up unless it was absolutely necessary. There must be no other clues about this case that can help them."

"That's what worries me the most," Light said, his voice harsh, "whoever this is doesn't take kindly to having anyone knowing of their presence. I don't want you to go back to the UK, if they've removed the police who worked on the case then it's only a matter of time until they come after you."

"That will not happen," L said quickly, trying to reassure Light, "They do not know I ever looked at the case, I was an unknown then. I have too many things arranged for me not to go back to the UK now. There is no reason to assume that the killer knows of me just because I'm responding with childhood fears."

"How could you on despite what you had seen?" Light asked.

"Because I realised then that I could make a real difference, and I really did, and I still do, enjoy solving cases. Albeit at a much different level now," L explained, his legs falling out of their customary position to swing slightly off the edge of the stool as he gave a heavy sigh, "I suppose you could call what I had then an addiction. I was addicted to the feeling of success and the emotional rush of working through a case... despite my outwardly stoic appearance. By the time this had worn off and it became a pleasing activity that could potentially be ignored occasionally it was too late. It was a part of my lifestyle and I was known worldwide. Even I defined myself by the job I now had, and I still did enjoy it greatly, though I think the reasons had changed from what they had once been."

There was a long silent pause between them as Light contemplated all he had been told. He had known all of this himself, it had been quite easy to figure out when he had first met L, but to have L finally admit to it and to seem almost annoyed at himself for some of his actions was quite the revelation. He fought unsuccessfully to hold back a smile, this was one of the reasons he loved L, no matter how well he could do something he always strove to do better. There was no wonder he left all his competitors in the dust.

"Don't you dare put any of this in those books," L said suddenly, laughing quietly at Light's shocked expression. He stopped laughing though as Light simply smiled at him and rose up from where he was sitting.

"Stay here," Light said, almost ordering L to stay put as he moved past him and headed towards the small corridor that lead to their private suite of rooms, "I will be right back."

He sat there nervously on the stool his legs still hanging and diminishing his ability to think, but he left them where they were. He wasn't sure he wanted to put his full thinking capacity to the task of working out what Light was planning.

Light felt an undue amount of nerves pass through him as he pulled what he wanted close. He knew this was what the both of them wanted, but still to make this something official between them once more. He stared down at his right hand before clenching his remaining fingers together to form a fist; it felt like this would be the final line in his recovery.

With a more cheerful smile he walked back out into the main room, a small wooden box held in his left hand. He only hoped L would be as pleased as he thought he would. His smile turned into a smirk as he saw L's worried expression, and he strode towards him saying nothing about what he was holding.

"What are you planning?" L asked slowly, his voice tinged with sudden apprehension and Light had to bite back a laugh. Somehow his lover's apprehension made this easier.

"This wasn't the moment I originally chose to give you this," Light said still smirking as he stood before L, "I was going to give this to you tomorrow over lunch. However I think with current events now would be better-"

With that Light handed the black haired man the box and sat back down on a stool.

"-I give this to you with the same proviso as the last, and with the hope that _you_ remember you asked for this."

L felt his stomach tighten nervously at Light's words and his hands were nearly shaking as he opened the varnished wooden box. He nearly dropped it as he saw the contents. There, nestled against the smooth velvet cloth in the tray was a thin, white leather collar. He almost felt he could cry from the burst of joy that passed through him; he knew now without a shadow of a doubt that he had his Light back.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N; I shall endeavour to get updates running more smoothly soon, but finals are approaching.

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http :// www .formspring .me/ Dragonrider4000 Please feel free to go here and ask me questions. I shall try to keep up with them even if I'm not posting regularly! (There are some spaces added to stop FF from removing the address, sorry about that).

...

May I also advertise the works of my wonderful friend Dotti55, she has recently begun writing and her stories are well worth the read. I hope that you will take some time to go and read them. They are part of the Death Note fandom, and I myself am quite a fan of them. :D

Please read and Review!

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Chapter 7

With deft movements L picked up the silver spoon on the side of the cup and stirred in the copious amounts of sugar he had just added to his tea. His gaze settled almost absently on his task, barely noticing his own activities for his mind was elsewhere. With a small, almost inaudible sigh he placed the spoon down with a clink onto the white bone china of the saucer. With another sigh he raised the cup to his lips and took a sip his gaze shifting to look out the window and along the wing of the plane. He barely saw it though as his thoughts travelled back over the events of the day before; Mello's words had shaken him, this case had not been one he had thought would ever return. In reality he wished it hadn't. When he thought of it he was not the logical detective, but a scared seven year old staring at pictures that despite his great intelligence he had been far too young to see. Thanks to Mello it had all been brought back to him...

_Large black eyes stared down with undisguised horror at the pictures in front of him, spots of light shining through the nearby curtain highlighting all too vivid areas of red on the people in the pictures. Bloody symbols stood out in horrid contrast to the white flesh beneath. It was all he could do to reach forward with a hand that only trembled slightly to shift through the stack. His mind wondered what sort of animal could do this to a person, they couldn't possibly be a fellow human being... for the first time in his short existence he had been forced to face the true reality of what people were capable of, and it chilled him to his very core. The back of his throat suddenly tasted of bile and he hastily covered the pictures with a bland police report, and for a second he could pretend he hadn't seen the images. The belief didn't last for long, his photographic memory providing him with a perfect recall that burned into his vision and was only worse when he closed his eyes. _

_He tried to get himself under control as he heard Wammy entering the room behind him; he couldn't let him see him like this. This was something he could fight through and continue on. All this meant too much to him to be removed because of one simple case. He knew deep down though that he was lying to himself on some level, this was no simple case. This case was terrifying..._

Many years in the future L shook himself and tried to steady his own growing nerves. Realising with a rising irritation that the way he had felt as a seven year old was definitely how he felt now, just thankfully now he was more detached from it now than he had been in the past. In the intervening years he had learnt how to separate himself from his emotions, to some degree of course. Something he had only perfected since Light had come into his life.

Light...

In an instant L was his collected self again, his eyes drifting to the nearby holdall he had dumped on a nearby seat and the gift he had secreted inside. His partner hadn't expected him to pack it, but yet he had. Now he was grateful that he had, it was a physical memento of all Light gave him. Most importantly that all inclusive protection against anything the universe might throw at him, protection that was his even if his partner didn't have a clue how he would go about it. L smiled as he stared at the holdall, almost as though he was imagining the collar there before his eyes. His smile broadened as his mind turned to more pleasant things and he took another sip of his tea.

He grinned as he though back over the night before. At the time he assumed Light had been so gentle with him because he was reluctant to return to their old ways in some way. True, there had been far more force than usual, and there had been no whispered questions just demands... but that had been all. Now though L realised what his partner had been doing, Light had been ensuring L had a very recent memory filled with all the love he could muster for L as unambiguously as possible. Despite the brave face he had managed to put on all the rest of the evening Light had still known that inside he had been out of sorts and dwelling on what Mello had told him.

L gave a sigh that was far more audible, and far happier, than the sighs he had given before; so happy in fact that it was almost a small laugh. He wondered when Light had recovered that well to become so calculating. He grinned and looked back down at the table, and he felt even better than before.

He had forgotten he had cake.

...

Wammy smiled as he watched the plane taxi to a standstill, his neat black suit matched by the car behind him and the umbrella that was open above his head to shield him from the rain. It had been a long time since he had seen his ward; almost too long in fact. L was far more that a son to him, perhaps more than a son, and not seeing him for such a long time was sometimes a great burden on him. A burden he would never share with L though, he was too happy to see his ward happy to ever bring his own feelings into the issue. Besides with running Wammy's House, looking after Ryuk and creating new toys for the trio... he was always kept busy. Truth be told he enjoyed his new roles, like L he was grateful to have left the frantic pace of their old lives behind.

He shook himself mentally as the rear of the door swung back and a second later L stepped out onto the metal staircase that had been wheeled into position. When he realised his charge was without an umbrella he shook his head slightly, he could never understand L's fascination with the rain; but as L looked up into the rain and closed his eyes for an instant it seemed he was definitely doing so. Then his gaze shifted downwards and locked with his and the sudden warmth in those black eyes was noticeable even from that distance. Though, Wammy admitted to himself, he was probably the only one of a precious few who would actually notice it. For a brief moment he wondered how Light and Eleanor were coping without L around, but he knew with absolute certainty that the black haired man before him would never have taken a step out of the door unless he knew his family were going to be okay.

Wammy took a couple steps forward as L descended the stairs, his pose so familiar to Wammy with his hands shoved in his jeans pockets and shoulders hunched.

"Hello Wammy," L said, his voice quiet as he gave his guardian one of his rare but winning smiles. It was as he saw that smile that he knew he had been missed as much as he missed L. Wammy felt his happiness grow as L's smile widened into a grin, and it was only then he realised that he was smiling back at L as broadly. The whole escapade lasted only a second but it was enough to show both of them how much the other had missed them.

"Hello L," Wammy replied, and to both their surprise he pulled L into a one armed hug, holding the genius close to him for a moment not caring that the man was quite drenched from the rain already, they were both sequestered under the umbrella now anyway. He was touched to his soul when L's arms rose to grip him back. Wammy knew he would have to thank Light some day for making his ward confident enough with his own emotions to be able to show them so freely. Though Wammy also knew that he could never thank him enough for all he had done for L despite his initial desire to kill him. Here the old inventor had to fight back a laugh and he hurriedly pulled back from L, he didn't want to worry the other with his strange humour. A humour developed by the career that even his ward didn't know the full details of.

"It's always raining when I arrive back in England," L commented, "It makes me feel quite welcomed."

Wammy smiled at L's words; despite the United Kingdom's fascination with the weather he had to admit that before him was one of the few who would have felt so welcomed by the rain.

"That may be the case," Wammy said with another heartfelt smile, adding jokingly as he moved to the driver's side door, "but I think it best we get a move on before England welcomes you back with a cold."

"I have never been sick because of the weather," L murmured behind him, just audible to Wammy the tone vaguely chiding, "and certainly not from the rain."

As he got into the driver's seat Wammy beamed, it was wonderful to have L around again. To know that this was just the preliminary visit before he and Light returned to the UK made him happier still. It would be nice to have his family back together again.

...

L stared out the rain splattered window out onto the passing countryside. This was a landscape he had missed, a place that spoke to him of home that no other location on Earth seemed to manage... at least no other location that didn't have Light and Eleanor there. He smiled at the thought and he turned to look at Wammy. For a moment it felt almost like he was back before the Kira case, back before any of the horrible events with Beyond had happened; when he had been only about ten or twelve...

He sighed and shook his head slightly, turning his head so he could look back out the window at the grey lit landscape. He supposed it was Mello's questions about the case that was bringing out all this sentimentality today, he wasn't usually like this. He frowned as his thoughts dwelt on the case; he hated how it continued to dominate his thinking. He was never going to get anything of any worth done today if this kept happening, and he had so much more to get done on this trip than dwelling on something that had happened nearly two decades ago.

"Ryuk was very excited to hear you would be returning," Wammy said suddenly, his thought's cutting through L's sudden moping like a knife, "I fear he will have spent most of his day baking."

"That was something I never thought Ryuk would ever take to," L commented, a smile appearing on his face as he looked out of the rain splattered window as the buildings gave way into countryside, "I had always assumed he would have considered it too much like work, though the end products may have been enough."

"Yes, I believe even Ryuk is somewhat surprised by his activities," Wammy replied with a small chuckle, "He always looks so startled when he acts so very human in his activities and someone points it out. I don't think he has adjusted to the change even now. He is happy though."

"I'm glad to hear it," L said, "When I realised what he had sacrificed for Light and me... I didn't know what to think. From what Light told me of his time as Kira it had appeared Ryuk had only ever been in it for his own enjoyment."

"I think he's surprised about what he did for you two, and for Mello, even now," Wammy added, "He still hasn't accepted that there was a part of him that was inherently _nice_... Even if he did drop a death note just to have fun watching someone else using it."

L said nothing in reply to Wammy's words. He knew his guardian was not angry at Ryuk for his actions, far from it, there seemed to rarely be a conversation when the old man wasn't talking about Ryuk to him; it was like he had found another son to take care of with all Ryuk needed to learn about being human. L bit back a small laugh as he wondered if all Ryuk ever heard about was him.

He continued to stare out of the window in the sudden silence that had fallen between him and Wammy, his gaze drifting over the delightfully, familiar scenery. Left to wander his thoughts began to drift back to the new home he had just left behind, however briefly. It didn't help that it was somewhere they would all be leaving for good soon. It had been so hard to leave Light and Eleanor behind, Jason too, but it seemed that the loss of Light was the worst blow to him. Though it would have been a surprise if that wasn't the case... with the feeling of a blush creeping up his face his thoughts reached their inevitable conclusion. Light's present. Knowing that he had brought that with him, and all that it actually entailed for his future with his partner, it didn't help make the coming week look any shorter.

...

With great care Light began the last of the series of security steps he needed to clear before he could access the contents. The sleek black box had just been extracted from what had previously looked like a seamless part of the floor just a moment before. He had been through this process many times before, but there was no way he was going to let that be the reason he made a stupid mistake. He wasn't stupid. Even more so with the knowledge that the Death Note inside would be incinerated if he went wrong. He might have two more available but he was _not_ going to deal with the reactions that would get from the trio or from L. So he gave a more than relived smile when the lock gave a small pneumatic hiss and the lid was released. As he picked up the notebook he fought back the usual thrill of power that went down his spine; he would never listen to that again. It had nearly cost him everything. If it hadn't been for L, in all respects, he wouldn't have the chance to continue with his plan. True, a highly modified plan thanks to L, but he was still able to enjoy the fact that he was permanently removing such vile people from the world. The hand had changed, but his task hadn't.

Rising from his kneeling position by the box he padded over to the nearby desk on silent feet. Idly he flicked through the book before him; each page telling of a separate list of people he and L had deemed had used up all their chances. There was a gradual decrease in names to be sure, but it wasn't at the rate either of them expected. It seemed some people just didn't want to even attempt to change. He wondered if he and L needed to sit and discuss this through again, but he doubted the world would act as docilely to his presence and L's acceptance of him, if the rules suddenly began changing.

"For someone who cares so deeply about his appearance," Jason said suddenly, his voice from the doorway startling Light out of his reverie, "You are certainly frowning deeply there. Aren't you worried about wrinkles?"

Light turned and gave the other man the glare such a comment deserved, his mouth twitching as it attempted to form a smile as Jason merely grinned back completely unrepentant as he shifted to lean on the wall by the desk.

"I thought you had gone to bed," Light commented, his gaze now fixed on the small pile of papers on his desk as he searched for the list of names. He pulled it out, glancing briefly at the bottom to ensure the two signatures were there; they were only ever on the final list. He and L were as careful as they could be to ensure no accidents happened.

"I couldn't sleep," Jason sighed, "and I thought if I couldn't it was likely you were still wandering around. It seems I was right, at least partly; you seem to be working instead. You do know that it is two in the morning?"

"Why is it I now have the all too clear image of L asking you to take care of me while he is away?" Light murmured, writing down two names and the date and times of their demise in quick succession.

"Because that's precisely what happened," Jason replied with a little laugh.

"And to think I thought I was master of this household," Light said, trying to force back a grin and glare at the insubordinate man at the same time.

"Oh you are, but that just means it's our job to look after you," Jason retorted.

"Yet when you and L work so secretly together I can't help but worry about what you might do," Light said slowly, feeling the slightest twinges of worry for an inexplicable reason at such a thought.

"Actually sir," Jason replied, and he gained an almost startled look from Light at his sudden use of 'sir', "You'd probably be the only one who'd be safe."

With that surprising comment he collapsed to the floor at Light's feet and sat with his back against one of the seated man's outstretched legs. Light wondered just how much time he and L spent talking if Jason became this lonely without him around or perhaps it was just because of the sudden change to their routine.

"You really couldn't sleep could you," Light commented worry creeping into his voice as he looked down at his close friend.

"No I couldn't," Jason whispered his voice barely audible, and Light knew the man now sat so close to him was putting a brave front on again. He let his right hand drop from the desk to hang in front of Jason's vision, and he smiled as he felt both of the other man's hands close around it. He'd be here for Jason as long as he was needed. His thoughts turned then to the other man he would always be there for, L, and he wondered how he was doing back in the UK alone. The brief call they had exchanged earlier as L's plane had taxied to a stop hadn't been enough for him. As Jason squeezed his hand briefly he knew that he wasn't alone in his thoughts.

In silence he continued on with his task, Jason keeping a tight grip on his right hand throughout. Light didn't mind though, he was suddenly grateful to have the company without L around.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N; Hopefully this means regular update will indeed recommence for this story. Though from the way things are looking... I've definitely lost some of you lovely readers because of my absence.

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http :// www .formspring .me/ Dragonrider4000 Please feel free to go here and ask me questions. I shall try to keep up with them even if I'm not posting regularly! (There are some spaces added to stop FF from removing the address, sorry about that)

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May I also advertise the works of my wonderful friend Dotti55, she has recently begun writing and her stories are well worth the read. I hope that you will take some time to go and read them.

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Please read and Review!

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Chapter 8

L tensed as he awoke, the unfamiliar surroundings making him immediately alarmed, something that could only happen to him in that oh so brief moment between sleeping and waking when he wasn't able to think clearly. Fuzzily he tried to remember where he was, and then frowned as his great mind exploded into clarity. He couldn't believe he had been quite so silly; it was certainly nothing he had ever done before. He sat up swiftly, taking in his surroundings as he raised a hand to rub at his eyes. For once he was glad he wasn't waking up next to Light, his partner would have taken too much delight in his rare moment of confusion.

He looked around at what would soon be his and Light's bedroom. He had to admit to certain feelings of trepidation and a slight sense of betrayal in sleeping in there for the first time without Light, but he knew he was just being strangely sentimental. His partner had been very eager for him to see the room for himself without him there, probably because Light had been given almost complete control over the furnishings; L viewing it alone would mean his judgement wouldn't be biased because of his lover's presence.

His gaze swept round the room, a space much larger than any other they had shared before, but they had both been in agreement about needing the extra space. They wanted their own little sanctuary to escape to if they were coming back to the bustle of Wammy's. In front of him stood a small but grand fireplace, pictures of Light, him and Eleanor, and the occasional shot of Jason, adorned the mantelpiece above. It was flanked by two cream sofas and a very soft, deep pile rug placed over the smooth, wooden floor. The sofa's had to either be antiques as the other furniture in the room; it was too close to regency style to be copies.

The wall to his left was adorned with heavy curtains, shielding L from the sunlight, but also from the view of the balcony and the garden beyond. On the other side of the room a couple bookcases and a chest of drawers stood square against the wall. Aside from that though the room was uncluttered, and L wondered if that was so they had room to add to it. Their clothes had even been banished from their room, hidden away behind an almost secretive door that was barely visible behind him. None of that had truly surprised L, but the bed had. It was a large four poster bed, and it looked as if there were space for drapes once they had truly moved in. It went well with the room, but it wasn't at all what he had expected.

Overall the whole room just screamed 'Light' though. It was understated in its decor and yet at the same time rich with a strange elegance and timeless beauty...L smiled and shook his head ruefully as he wondered whether he was still thinking about the room. He rose from the bed, bare chest giving way to light blue pyjama trousers. He shrugged on a dressing gown in the same blue colour that Wammy had insisted on leaving for him. He was glad of it now, England felt far too cold after the warmth of Italy.

Running his hands through his hair to remove the worst of the knots, he made his way out of the bedroom, down the small hall that marked out his and Light's private territory, into the larger main corridor where Jason and Eleanor's rooms were and into the main room of the suite. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw his visitors, sat beyond the cluster of sofas and chairs that surrounded both another fireplace and a widescreen TV along one edge of a large dining table that was festooned with a vast variety of food.

The trio had decided to drop in for breakfast.

Near was playing with the contents of the sugar bowl, a trait he had probably picked up from L, and for a second the genius felt guilty about that. Matt was sat obviously absorbed in a game on his DS, his food untouched before him. Between the two Mello sat in a strange oasis of quiet calm, as one hand pulled apart a chocolate croissant with practised ease and the other held a book he was quietly reading. It was only then as he saw them that L realised how long it had been since he had seen them in the flesh, nearly a year, and they had changed far more than he had expected. Always he had seen the teenagers in them, the strange immaturity they had kept since childhood. But now, all he saw were adults, even if they were still playing.

"Damn," Matt muttered suddenly, and with a brisk action closed the DS and almost slammed it down onto the table. He looked up then and stared a little shocked, at L, "Hello L."

"Good morning Matt," L replied, and the sudden sound of his voice alerted the other two to his presence, "Good morning Mello, Near."

"L!" Mello exclaimed, rising to his feet and quickly approaching him, while Near just nodded in acknowledgement a small smile on his face, "You're joining us for breakfast."

L gave a small, quiet laugh at that order from Mello, it almost sounded like the blond man had expected him to bolt when he saw them. Yet after the news of their previous phone call he supposed they had a right to be worried. L forced his face to be still as he sat down at the table, even while he frowned inwardly, he had a growing suspicion for the reason the trio had arrived so suddenly and he felt anger at being so little trusted by them. But he had to admit it was exactly what he would have done had he been in their position.

"We just thought we'd come down and say hello," Matt commented, finally remembering he had food before him, "We thought you wouldn't want a long drive after all the other tasks you no doubt have, just to come see us."

"No doubt you probably have a very busy week ahead of you," Near added, "You're not one for wasting your time."

"What you mean," L replied, deciding to give voice to his suspicions his voice soft and quite like the one he had used for many years as L the detective. He couldn't help it, the trio had put him on edge for the first time, "Was that you didn't want your only witness wandering back to Italy without talking to you first. Please, try to remember I used to have your job."

L knew his suspicions were entirely correct as the trio exchanged a worried glance.

"That was hardly our only reason," Mello retorted, "We would hardly think you of all people would run off on us. We genuinely did want to see you; I suppose we're beginning to understand how difficult it was for you to separate the detective part of you from the rest of your life. It's yet another reason why we're still shocked you've left us with the gig for so long and don't want it back."

For a moment L considered all Mello had, and _hadn't_ told him. For L had caught the hidden meaning behind Mello's words, and he couldn't help but wonder at the trio's continued worry about him taking away all he had given them.

He never would.

Even if there were days when he was working so hard on the cases he had now and a part of him longed for the past, for the strange thrill and energy it had supplied him with then, the challenge of it all... But then Light or Eleanor would walk in to whatever room he had decided to work in, or he'd hear them playing or laughing somewhere around the small villa and he'd realise all he had gained. He felt so free and happy with them, and in some ways there was a whole new challenge in it, he'd never jeopardise that for anything.

"There is no need to worry," L said at last, turning to look kindly at each of the trio, "That role has passed from me forever. I do not believe I am quite the same person I was when I defined myself as 'L the World's Greatest Detective' my life has other challenges now besides cases. Besides, I never lie to those closest to me, certainly not over things that truly matter. When I told you it was for good I meant it, despite everything that was happening then I did not act in haste. Now, as much as this may surprise you, can we _please_ talk about something less involved? I've only just woken up."

L smiled as he saw their stunned faces once more, he was having fun startling them as many ways as he could. He knew full well that Eleanor would have been very proud of her daddy and the way he had emphasised the final line in his small speech, very proud indeed. Then, to his surprise Matt started laughing, his goggles falling from their place on his forehead to lie around his neck, and L smiled. With the redhead's sudden outburst it felt like the tension that had been building had quietly broken. Reaching for a croissant he asked them about any gossip they may have heard about this rebuilt Wammy's and the children here. He thought he would know most of it already, but it never hurt to ask.

...

Light awoke to a very small hand pushing at his shoulder, and the quiet intonations of Eleanor calling, 'Dad, dad, dad," repeatedly at him. All in all it was quite a cute way to be woken up, but being on the receiving end of it now was... well it was like Eleanor had turned herself into a human shaped alarm clock, but Light realised there was unlikely to be any snooze button. He did know though that he hadn't slept through his _actual_ alarm, he was being woken up early.

He groaned slightly, and tried to hug the duvet closer to him, before surrendering to his daughter. He knew if he didn't she would only go fetch 'Uncle Jason', and he would never live this morning down. He couldn't let his daughter's actions against him go unpunished though, and with sudden speed he darted forward and hauled the suddenly giggling girl up onto the bed and tickled her. He relented after a few seconds though, her loud laughter at his actions too much for his recently awoken mind.

He sat himself up and pulled his daughter into his lap, his arms coming around her to hold her in a loose embrace. He smiled down at her and laid a gentle kiss on her forehead, despite being woken so rudely by her he couldn't find it in himself to get angry at her.

"Why are you waking me up so early little annoying child of mine?" Light asked, stifling a sudden urge to yawn.

Eleanor's beaming face became suddenly serious, and she snuggled in close to his chest, hugging him tightly.

"I miss Daddy," she replied, voice slightly muffled by Light's pyjama clad chest, "It's not the same without him here."

He stared down at the top of his daughter's head sadly; he knew this was the first time that L had been away like this and it had to be having an effect on her. He had hoped that with Jason and him still being around it wouldn't have got like this, but it seemed that wasn't to be the case. His arms tightened around her and he sighed a little.

"I do too," Light said, deciding for complete honesty, "but he won't be gone for long, and then we'll see him again. I tell you what, how about we have a really exciting week together and make him feel really guilty about leaving yes?"

"Yes," Eleanor giggled at that, and now that he was more awake Light appreciated the sound of the high-pitched laughter. There was so much about his daughter that he loved, it didn't matter that they weren't biologically related, none of that had ever mattered.

She went quiet quickly though and Light realised that more was probably needed, he glanced at the clock and debated what to do. Would it be too early to call L now? He knew that his partner always awoke before him, and even though they were an hour ahead here, at just after nine in the morning making it just after eight in the UK, it was still debatable if L would be up. He decided to risk it, at worst they would only have to try again later.

"How about we go and try and call him on the phone?" Light suggested, and Eleanor was suddenly beaming up at him again, yes this was the right thing to do he decided, she definitely needed this. Then she nodded furiously up at him long black unruly locks dancing around her shoulders as she did so, and he added, "you go find the phone wherever it has hidden itself this time, and I'll meet you in the kitchen."

She darted from the room, and Light shook his head slightly at his daughter's boundless energy. He certainly didn't feel as though he could ever be that energetic, but then he only had himself to blame because of how late he had been up. He sighed and rose from the bed, sidling out on bare feet towards the kitchen, pausing only to hurriedly run a brush through his hair. He smiled happily as he saw Jason was already there pouring coffee from a cafetière into two cups. He looked just as tired as Light felt he saw, but then he had been up into the early hours with him too.

"I was woken when her bedroom door slammed," Jason said quietly, "As I realised her destination was most likely you I thought we would both be in need of this."

"Thank you," Light sighed, taking the suddenly proffered cup gratefully. He had time to take one sip of the coffee, a blend that both he and Jason always liked in the morning flavoured as it was just slightly with the taste of oranges, before Eleanor came bounding up phone unit in hand. Light exchanged a smiling look of understanding with Jason as they both felt even more tired watching her bounce around in front of them.

"Ah, you found it," Light said, "Do you remember how to find daddy's mobile number in there?"

Eleanor nodded, and was already searching through the menu as Light moved to sit on one of the nearby sofas. Without even looking up his daughter curled up next to him, and he heard Jason laugh quietly from where he had begun to work on breakfast. He felt no guilt in letting Jason continue on preparing breakfast, he knew the man enjoyed the task, and if he didn't want to do it he wouldn't.

"I found it," Eleanor said happily a few seconds later, and she offered the phone up to Light.

"Why don't you call him," Light laughed, "You can give daddy a nice surprise."

"Okay," Eleanor agreed, and she pressed the call button before holding the phone up to her ear. Light wondered vaguely, as both her knees came up to her chest and her thumb to her mouth how he was going to cope with another person in the house with L's eccentricities. Eleanor seemed to be picking up all of L's habits and none of his own, or perhaps he just wasn't noticing them in her because he would see them as natural. He smiled down at her and took another sip of coffee; he wondered what L would make of his early morning caller.


	9. Chapter 9

May I advertise the works of my wonderful friend Dotti55, she has recently begun writing and her stories are well worth the read. I hope that you will take some time to go and read them.

* * *

A/N; Right, a little slower in updating than I hoped, but I've been busy revising and working on my final year report. Final year at university is quite something I can tell you.

Please Read and Review!

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Chapter 9

With a small smile adorning his face at the trio's antics at breakfast L made his way back towards the bedroom. He was surprised the trio knew so much about the going's on at Wammy's, even he hadn't known everything and that was with the head teacher, now Wammy not Roger, as his main informant. However he knew his heirs were not the sort to sit on their laurels, they would of course keep up a careful watch on Wammy's. Not only because of the incident with Beyond and all the horror that had caused, no-one wanted a repeat of any of that, and the search for an heir, or heirs, was always continuing.

With a sharp tug he pulled his still packed suitcase from underneath the bed, and dumped it on top of the duvet. For a second he looked through the contents of the case, smiling wanly at the shirts of other colours than white that Light had snuck in at some point, he had yet to get L to wear anything other than his usual outfit for any length of time.

"Oh Light," L said with a quiet laugh, "Still not given up on instilling your dress sense on me?"

Deciding to relent a little on the fashion front, he did the case up again, dragged it into the adjoining walk in wardrobe and began unpacking all that he had brought with him. It still didn't feel comfortable to be using the space without Light present, it just felt wrong somehow. Yet he knew if he didn't unpack Wammy would end up telling his partner. Somehow the two of them hand lines of communication even he didn't know of, and exactly the same feelings when it came to disorder. It was most disconcerting at times.

His thoughts ceased though as the box containing Light's gift was finally visible. He stared at it for a moment, but he knew he couldn't truly resist. So he opened it and tipped the collar out onto his hand. With the gentlest of touches he ran his fingers over the soft, white leather; their smooth journey hindered only by the silver clasp and the small silver rings concealed in the leather that were only just visible; he could only guess at what Light planned to do with them in the future. He had worn it only once, but he remembered its counterpart well; part of him hoped Light would continue with what they had done in the past. Yet now he had told Light what he wanted... L sighed into the quiet of the small room... he couldn't help feeling more than a little apprehensive. He shivered so suddenly it shocked him and he pushed the collar back into the box and shoved it onto a shelf. Yes he was apprehensive, but it was in oh such a good way, but he had come here to work. Such distractions just wouldn't do. Particularly when they woke in him the ever present need to touch Light and to feel Light touch him, and... with a sound of displeasure he turned his back on the collar.

He turned his attentions back to his unpacking, successfully distracting himself, if not from his partner then from the collar, by marvelling at the bright array of colours that Light had thought he might suddenly choose to wear. He didn't want to wear _any_ of them, he was happy with his white shirts.

He was brought out of his reverie by the sudden sound of music from the bedroom, the noise startling him as he realised it was his mobile phone. He frowned in puzzlement as he wondered who could be calling him at this time of the morning, but already a growing suspicion made him think the object of his thoughts had decided to check on him. L smiled and made his way hurriedly back into the bedroom and picked up the phone. His smile broadened as he saw the caller I.D. as he answered.

"Hello."

"Daddy!"

The sudden happy exclamation went straight to his heart and L's smile softened.

"Hello Eleanor," L said, his voice quiet, "How are you?"

"I'm good," Eleanor replied, still sounding her usual happy self, before adding in a more subdued tone, "I miss you though."

"I miss you too," L sighed, trying to keep his tone calm even while he longed to give the forlorn sounding girl a hug, "But it won't be long till I come home. This does give you a chance to get Dad to spoil you rotten."

He smiled as he heard her giggle on the end of the phone, and as she became just slightly louder the laughter not as forced as it had been, he knew Light must have managed to catch what he had said. He could only imagine the look his partner must have had on his face then.

"Are you going to buy me a present?" Eleanor asked suddenly, and it dawned on L how much she was his and Light's daughter. She knew precisely how to get what she wanted.

"Only if you ask nicely," L retorted, unable to resist teasing her just a little bit.

"Please!" The sudden volume and the following giggle made L hold the phone just that bit further away from his ear. It was quite a shock, though he knew he should have expected it.

"That was rather loud, I'm not sure I caught that," L said, deciding to continue with his little game, it seemed to be amusing her. He forced back a laugh as he heard a sigh from the other end of the phone; it was rather funny to hear one of Light's sighs of annoyance from her.

"Please could you buy me a present daddy?" Eleanor said, her voice filled with pleading, and L could just see the pleading look on her face, but then she continued, "Because you're so far away and I don't like it, it's not the same without you here."

"Then of course I will," L replied, wondering if he was agreeing all too easily, but she did sound as if she missed him more than he and Light had anticipated. He heard the sound of quiet conversation on the other end of the phone and he briefly wondered what was going on.

"I've gotta go help Uncle Jason with breakfast," Eleanor said suddenly, "bye bye Daddy."

He heard the sound of rustling which could only mean that that Eleanor had passed the phone to Light. For a moment all was silence, and L sat there waiting for Light to speak.

"You put the most evil ideas into her head," Light said suddenly, "I thought I was going to have a pleasant week. However, it seems I was mistaken."

"I'd hardly call advising her in the best way to utilise the situation as 'evil'," L laughed, "And you have to admit she already has the both of us wrapped around her little finger."

"Well she certainly has you wrapped around her little finger," Light retorted with a laugh, then he sighed, "and I suppose I am as well. Oh, she acted as my alarm clock this morning, I don't know where she gets the energy."

"As your alarm clock?" L queried, though he had a feeling that he already knew the answer. He bit back a laugh, he wanted Light to tell him first.

"Yes," Light sighed, "Instead of the sound of the alarm clock I was woken by her pleasant voice saying Dad repeatedly."

L could almost feel the frown through the phone as he laughed, but it really was too funny.

"So, what do you have planned for the day?" Light asked, and it brought L's laughter back under sharp control.

"I'm talking to the trio about the case," L sighed, his smile leaving him now as well, "They were here for breakfast Light. They somehow though that now I was returning to the UK I had some thoughts to taking back the caseload-"

"What?" Light exclaimed, sounding totally shocked, "Why did they still think that?"

"I believe it's because of how much they respect me," L sighed, "Part of them still doesn't think they are up to the task."

"Surely the last three years of success would be enough for them?" Light said, still sounding puzzled.

"I also assumed it would have until today," L replied, "I don't think this will be coming up again though."

"I'm glad to hear it," Light commented with a small laugh, "the thought of the trio being so worried about something like that is worrying for _me_..."

L frowned as Light trailed off, and there was the sound of a sudden heartfelt sigh from his partner.

"I miss you as well L," Light said quietly, his voice nearly a whisper and L's frown deepened at the sadness in his lover's voice. It made his own heartache and he couldn't have that today, he had too much to face, but he also couldn't feel angry at Light for admitting this to him; it was just a sign of how much of the past few years they had spent together.

"Don't tell me you're after a present as well," L managed to reply, attempting humour, but even through his amused tone his voice wavered slightly.

"Oh I don't see why not," Light laughed. He still sounded sad, but it wasn't like it had been before, he only hoped that Light didn't think he was cheapening or ignoring his emotions by not saying anything about them now. He wasn't, and he doubted Light really thought that, but he couldn't focus on it. If he did his own loneliness about being away from those he loved the most would threaten to hit him and he didn't want that, not with what he had to face today.

"You better get me something really special," Light's voice cut across L's thoughts and he froze, he had no choice, the tone of voice had been one of pure seductive promise. He knew for sure now that Light _definitely_ wasn't upset with him in any way. He was saved in having to reply as Eleanor's voice sounded on the line.

"Jason has sent me to tell you that breakfast is getting cold," Eleanor said, obviously trying to be stern but failing with the small giggle she couldn't help but add at the end.

"Ah, we can't have that now can we," Light said, and then his voice was directed at L again, "as you can hear I have to go. Goodbye L."

"Bye," L managed, before the line was cut and he was left standing alone once more. He brought the mobile close to his chest then, almost as if he could reach through and ease the pain he felt there now. Then he realised just what this week would hold for Light now that he wasn't there and L laughed, it was worth being this far away just to see what his cunning little daughter could come up. He certainly hoped she would make the most of it. "At least I hope you do." L added with another laugh.

...

The trio sat at the large table strewn with papers, sunlight streaming through the nearby windows making the images shine far too brightly, but they ignored them. Unlike L they had seen them at a much older age, and they had the ability to shield themselves from the disgusting sight before them. They also knew that by working on this case they could catch this killer and give the people in those images some semblance of justice. As Mello had so aptly put it, they would be introducing the monster to Light.

"I'm still not sure how we should do this," Mello sighed, "Shoving all these notes right under his nose could bring it all back too quickly. I don't want to hurt him with this."

"It's the only way," Near said in reply, "this way makes it seem like any other case. If we talk to the logical side of L then the emotional side of him shouldn't have time to take over."

"This isn't so much about his emotional side," Matt commented, "It's about his childhood fears. I think what's worrying Mello is whether he will react the same way as you do when confronted with heights."

Near sighed in acknowledgement he knew that Matt spoke the truth, there really was no way to do this that didn't have the potential to hurt L. Yet it had to be done, L had agreed with this, without L the possibility of catching the killer was significantly lower. They couldn't have that.

All three of them looked up as the door to the room they had procured opened and L strode in, he looked far more confident than they expected. Perhaps they were worrying too much. In silence L sat at the table across from them, knees drawn up to his chest as he simply looked over at them, eyes not straying once down to the documents arranged on the table.

"This is your case," L said eventually, "Where do you want to start?"

It was as if the ice had broken and the tension the trio had felt vanished, there was no need to worry at all, before them was the L they thought of so fondly. Here was the detective that they had idolised in their young childhood and grown to love as they grew up. They had been blinded by the emotional side he had shown around them and Light in recent years. How had they forgotten that L must have seen worse than this? He had grown up being strictly logical and he had continued on _despite_ this case.

"These are the documents we think you saw," Mello said, leaning forward to push one of the stacks towards L slightly, "however they were in a deplorable state when we received them and we have no idea if they are all there or if this is what you remember."

There was no question about asking L if he would remember, his memory was impeccable about things like this. Even if he had forgotten the case now it had been brought up again he would most likely remember each document with unerring accuracy.

They watched in silence as L calmly scanned through every document and cast his eyes over every picture, a slight frown forming on his face as he saw the pictures, but nothing more. He seemed to be coping.

"This was everything?" L asked.

"Yes, Near replied, "That's all we received about the old cases."

"Have you tried matching up the police reports here from all the officers involved with the officers who died?" L murmured, "I think at least one of them is missing."


	10. Chapter 10

May I advertise the works of my wonderful friend Dotti55, she has recently begun writing and her stories are well worth the read. I hope that you will take some time to go and read them.

* * *

A/N; So, this is me attempting to update regularly once more. I hope it keeps going.

Please read and review!

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Chapter 10

"One is missing?" Near whispered, looking startled.

"I'm almost sure of it," L confirmed, fingers rapidly moving through the documents as he sorted through them. Any fear he had for this case was diminishing with each moment, in the bright light of day with his heirs nearby and the knowledge that he wasn't that nervous, frightened child any more had done wonders for his psyche. He was sure Light would be proud. However all of that dimmed into insignificance with the thought that one of the police reports was gone. This was more than shoddy filing, he just knew it.

He glanced up as Mello took out his mobile and made a call. He already thought he knew what his heir was up to, and a second later he was proven correct.

"Hello Matsuda," Mello said quietly, "Could you check the tables and the floors of the main room for any documents. I doubt you'll find anything, but I just need to know. Call me back once you've done that?"

With that Mello hung up, his face grim as he turned back to the table.

"Are you thinking someone in the police is trying to cover something up?" Mello asked, his arms crossing as he glowered down at the documents, almost as if they were the things at fault.

"That is certainly a worrying possibility," L sighed, stopping in his activities to glance at the more recent piles of documents on the table, "may I?"

"Of course," Mello replied, his tone still fairly polite even if his gaze remained cold. He didn't like where this was heading at all.

"You do realise that there is only so far the police will want to work with us if we bring up the possibility of one of their own being the killer or knowing him and covering for him," Near said quietly.

"I think we're going to have to work round them on this one," Matt commented, "Particularly as they've targeted the investigators of the old case. I don't want to give them the knowledge that L is working on the case. We _all_ become too much of a target then. Working this from such a defensive position... maybe you could have coped like that L, but I know we can't."

"Yes," L said with a smile, "you are much more hands on with your cases."

"It was that or Mello would go mad," Matt laughed, only laughing harder as Mello turned his glare onto him. L was quite impressed in the red head's ability to ignore that stare; L knew that he would have difficulty in staring Mello down with that expression looking at _him_.

"While we are waiting for Matsuda to phone back," Near said softly, his emotionless tone belayed by the smile on his face, "Is there anything productive we could be doing, Such as matching reports to investigators?"

"Yes, I think that is precisely what we should do," L agreed, and he began separating out each police report from the file even as he spoke.

For a few moments the genii shifted documents back and forth across the table, matching pictures of the dead policeman to the reports they had filed for the case, and any case notes they had written. Soon a line of faces stretched across the top of the desk, documents beneath them in two neat rows. Beneath all of them, except for one that is.

Detective Inspector Baker, just a sergeant at the time of the first murderers. He had appeared to be a fairly minor character on the side of the police. L had only realised a report had been missing because the only reason Baker had been involved in the case at all was because he had been called out to the scene where the second body had been found. There had been no connection between him and the case then apart from that, but now, with his report missing, and perhaps other reports he had written gone... he looked very suspicious indeed. Even if he was dead. No wait, that didn't have to be the only explanation...

Their concentration was broken as Mello's mobile vibrated very audibly in the room.

"Yes?" Mello said quickly, glancing at L as he spoke. His frown returned as he listened to what had to be Matsuda on the other end of the phone. "I see. Thank you Matsuda. Sorry to disturb you when it led to nothing."

L's mouth twitched into a slight smile at Mello's apology, it certainly seemed that Mello thought quite highly of his helper to do such a thing even in such a situation. L knew that he certainly hadn't been the most adept at that with Wammy. He mentally shook himself and turned back to the case, he didn't have time for such sentimentality now.

"So, it definitely is missing," Matt murmured the normally happy gamer looking subdued.

"Yes," Mello sighed, "One can only hope that we can find some clue as to what it, or _they_ said."

"Whatever it is," Near said calmly, "We cannot trust the police."

"Unfortunately I believe that to be the case," L agreed, "Though I'm sure you still have trusted sources within the police you can use, so you're not entirely disconnected from them."

"Of course," Mello replied with a smirk, "We have a couple of Wammy's graduates there who will be more than willing to help I'm sure. One may even get a sudden promotion to the right department... a promotion they probably deserve anyway."

"I think we need to know what you can remember even more now," Near said suddenly, looking across at L, "it's even more important than before."

"To my shame I don't remember more than what is here," L said quietly, "though I did not spend much time looking over these documents as you know. All I had heard about the case came from the newspapers at the time, and the television networks, and those were mostly rumours. I think some of the rumours they reported looked like they could have been true."

"I think we need to take a trip to the records room," Matt interrupted, "All the hard copies of the newspapers may have been lost in the fire, but we managed to find microfiche for all the major newspapers and some of the local papers. We don't have as good a supply as before, but we should have enough to look over this period of time."

The others nodded in agreement, they needed more resources than the police files, particularly if there were signs that they had been tampered with. They couldn't know if what they read was accurate or horrendously biased. The newspapers could well be biased too, but there was still the hope of something more than they had now.

"Let's go see what they have to say then," Mello sighed, rising to his feet with his usual fluid motion that evaded his companions a second later L was also on his feet and moving towards the door. The other two followed them without question, moving to follow him out of the room and down the hall in contemplative silence.

As they walked L glanced across at his heirs taking in the confidence that filled each step and the maturity he now saw. True they would still be childlike in so many ways, as he himself was, but there was an extra edge there honed by the years they had spent filling his role. He took a great pleasure in seeing this change, being able to see them become all he had hoped they could be; he had thought such a thing would only happen with his death. He realised he couldn't be more proud of them, and he smiled. Still smiling he turned away from the trio to admire this new Wammy's as he walked...

...

Despite looking just like the original on the outside, albeit with two new wings and a considerable resizing of certain areas.... inside it wasn't the same at all. Before the layout had been the product of centuries and a couple hurried decades of building, corridors had never gone where one would expect them too and hidden spaces had been present everywhere. L remembered Matt's plan of them all too well and he hadn't wanted a repeat of that in the new one. This was a place to nurture the genii of the next generation and all the unfortunate orphans that they could, with such a task they could not afford the old Wammy's anymore.

So Wammy's had changed.

Every level represented a different area with security access to the higher floors scrupulously maintained. You needed a keycard to access any of the areas the trio and of course L's family would inhabit. There was no more ready freedom of movement throughout the building as there had been before, that had been ok when the orphans had been few and the expectations had been high, but no more. Besides, the lessons surrounding safety and security had been painfully learnt; even if it had been a lesson they had thought they would never had to learn. As a measure of respect though, besides the initial security, the students and staff were given almost complete free reign over the rest of the complex.

Decoratively the place was a pure fusion of the styles both L and Wammy loved; a sometimes confusing mixture of modernity and the traditional that would have been painfully out of place anywhere but here. Here it seemed perfectly right to go from a room quite minimalist in taste straight to the library of white wood panelling and intricate carving; the books all uniformly bound in crisp white covers and darkened silver. The room was bright and sunlit despite the weather outside, the books themselves helping reflect a little of the light back into the room.

...

"I always feel you and Wammy went overboard with your mutual love of books here," Matt commented looking round the vast library, "It's as if you created a temple to them."

"I think in some ways that's what we were going for," L said softly, shifting forward to run a hand along a line of unbroken covers, his voice low and quiet so close to the tone the trio remembered from when they were younger, "I think you would better understand if I tell you one of the first things I can ever remember Wammy telling me; 'knowledge and understanding bring you freedom, and so what better freedom than to read.' Books have always been symbols of power and freedom; they should be treated with some respect. With so much information available on the internet I think people have forgotten that, but I do not."

"Tch," Mello muttered as he headed towards the spiral staircase, Matt and Near as ever following along behind him, at the end of the library that led to the records room, "Matt's right though, it still looks like some form of temple."

L sighed and shook his head as he followed along behind them; he supposed he was biased growing up with Wammy for he loved books too. He paused at the top of the staircase to look back over the many shelves and he gave a small laugh, it didn't help that the trio had never had need to solve a case solely from books either. He had.

The records room was a long filing cabinet and cupboard filled room. Tables ran the entire length of the room covered in piles of newspapers, the occasional chair blocking the small corridor between them and the cupboards. At the end of the long space several computers and microfiche machines were visible surrounded by more boxes and papers.

"Where do you suggest we start?" Near asked as he looked round at the disorganised room in obvious distress at the mess. The black haired man had to bite back a sigh.

"This is _your_ case," L managed to reply with some difficulty, just managing to stop himself from immediately taking over, "Where do _you_ think we should start?"

"Surely the most useful thing is to find the papers first," Mello said sauntering down one side of the tables glancing over the dates of the papers on top of each pile. He only hoped that they were arranged by date, "Replacements came in so quickly and there was so much else to sort, this has been forgotten. There hadn't been any need to organise it till now. Wish we had time to get some of the kids to sort this for us. Would've been far easier."

"Too late now." Near said, though he sounded as if he wished it could still be done.

"I really hate paperwork," Matt muttered, as he wrenched open the nearest filing cabinet.

L said nothing as he too began to search, but he too had to agree. While this was necessary the fact that they had to do it was more than slightly annoying. However if it kept them from focusing on the fact that there had been, or could still be, a potential informant to the murderer in the police until they could be objective about it; becoming despondent about it would help no one and solve nothing.

...

"No, I've heard that one," Eleanor said quickly as Light tried to find a bedtime story to tell her, "I want to hear one of your stories about Daddy_."_

"Alright then," he said with a smile as he put the book back on the shelf before sitting on the edge of her bed. He had thought she wouldn't want to hear one with L gone, but it seemed he had been wrong. "Any requests?"

"The day he saved the princess," Eleanor replied, her tone determined.

Light couldn't help but laugh a little, she wanted to hear about L yet she still wanted a fairy tale.

* * *

A/N; So, would you like to hear the fairytale about the Great Detective L as well, or would you like me to carry straight on with the rest of the story?


	11. Chapter 11

May I advertise the works of my wonderful friend Dotti55, she has recently begun writing and her stories are well worth the read. I hope that you will take some time to go and read them.

A/N; Been a little while since I updated I know, but this chapter is quite long so I hope you will forgive me for that... In other news... my finals are over! I'm through the horrendous ordeal they call the end of university! Sags in chair, I never want to sit another three hour exam in my life... I've done far too many of them recently.

As so many of you wanted to know the fairytale, indeed I think you all did, this will be written sometime soon. I'm not posting it here though, but as a separate one-shot so please look out for it!

Please read and review!

* * *

Chapter 11

L sat back in his chair staring at the table they had spread out all the documents on earlier in the day, now though there was also a stack of yellowing old papers scattered across the surface, coloured markers sticking out of them in odd places. He had known that the papers would only ever be somewhat useful and unlikely to be a source of any good information this late in to the case. What he hadn't realised was how much 'witness testimony' they would include from any random person they could find. Every time they had found any tiny piece of information from comments they had checked against records and found that these people had been interviewed by the police as well and their information was useless. However they had come across one very important fact.

Baker hadn't been called out to the body; he had been the one who had _found_ the body, a small detail yes, but an important one. A detail they were inclined to believe. It was all beginning to look as if he was indeed covering for someone, if it hadn't been for the fact that he was dead then L knew he would have thought that Baker was the most likely suspect. A brief burst of annoyance flared through the detective then and he frowned. He was not about to fall for the same trick twice. His change of expression was enough to get the trio looking at him with worry.

"What is it L?" Mello asked a chocolate bar paused half way to his mouth.

"How do we know Baker is truly dead," L commented, rising to stare at the investigators picture and then the picture of what remained when he had been found, "With this level of ritual carving on the body how do we _know_?"

"What," Matt exclaimed, shifting from where he had been lounging in one of the rooms many chairs playing a game to come and stand by L and stare down at the coroner's photos as well.

"Shit," Mello growled, as he saw Matt's suddenly ashen expression. It was enough for both him and Near to realise that they really _couldn't _know. Though that had been almost certain from the moment L had expressed any doubt.

"Wouldn't they have done a blood test?" Near asked, a finger twirling in his hair the only sign of his inner tension, and that he had asked a question he already knew the answer to.

"Not to find out who is was," Matt sighed, flicking through the reports they all already knew by heart, while L stood motionless next to him staring down at the photos, "He was found with his police badge and his whole wallet."

"I've seen a man fake his own death using the man in his own prison cell to do it," L muttered, "I will not fall for it again."

"We need that body," Mello said calmly, fishing his mobile phone out of his pocket, "I'm just glad it's still in the morgue. I'd hate to be involved in bodysnatching from a police grave."

"Though to fake his death like that..." Near commented, "Does he have any family?"

"A brother David, and his mother Alison," L replied, his gaze not even shifting away from the dead man's face. If it hadn't been for the fact this had been done to someone's face the smooth swirls and runes that covered it would have been almost beautiful, knowing they were marked on a person made them grotesque. L was just glad he could look at them rationally and logically now; the difficulties of the case and the annoyance it posed had wiped away all fears he had once had.

"What's the likelihood of the body being David's?" Mello sighed, "Though it's going to be difficult to find out if we don't have a DNA sample for both of them. I think it's time we sent Matsuda on a little errand, time to get some samples without anyone knowing."

"You're going to send Matsuda?" L questioned, not in judgement over the choice merely in curiosity that their choice would be their liaison, their Wammy. Though he wasn't a father figure for them so it was perhaps more understandable.

"He's a lot more hands on than Wammy was," Matt explained, as Mello placed the call to Matsuda, "he enjoys it."

Despite the tense situation L grinned, he knew the old member of the task force had blossomed with the trio. The added responsibility and the fact the trio never failed to tell him when he had done well had allowed Matsuda to show all he could do, L knew that... he just hadn't realised the trio had corrupted him either. He had never thought of the man as a thief, that the man so enamoured with justice would steal.

...

The water in the large bath rippled and splashed against the edge as the person within slid down a little further inside with a sigh of satisfaction. It wasn't often they allowed themselves the luxury of such a long bath. After a day filled with the same tension he hadn't known for years though L felt he needed it.

"I really have changed," he said quietly, raising a hand out of the water and watching the droplets fall from it before submerging it once more. Then he smiled and relaxed back until he was almost floating. He definitely approved of this bath, you could get at least four people in here before you ran out of room, "Of course I blame you entirely Light, only you would want a small swimming pool in the bathroom."

L's smile widened, albeit with a sudden bout of nerves, as he wondered about all the reasons Light could have wanted the bath to be this big. He knew there had to be some form of dirty reason behind it, Light was like that. He knew his Light could appear to be all civilized and 'normal' and yet underneath was a man who craved for the ultimate power and control in a way that was far from the norm. L forced back a laugh as he felt a strange sense of pride that Light's sense of control over him was enough to have stopped him from wanting to take over the world. His grin broadening he let himself disappear completely under the surface of the water and bringing his hands up to run through his unruly hair a couple times before sitting back up, his face appearing out of the centre of the large bath.

Shifting back towards the side he reached for the bottle of shampoo that stood on the large raised area that completely surrounded three sides of the bath, glancing at the couple stairs that were on the only side not flanked by tiles. He shook his head at Light's creativity and wondered whether he should have given his partner as much free reign as he had. He had known that something like this would be present; he had just never paid attention to the details. He was never much of an architect; though he had to admit he hadn't been written out of their space despite this not being what he would have done, too many of the features were what he would have wanted not what Light would have specifically chosen. The bathroom was all white and chrome with no ornamentation besides the windows that were on the wall opposite the bath, on those a marvellous abstract pattern had been etched onto the surface in great swirls of frosted glass. L stared at it as he rubbed the shampoo into his hair; his movements slow as he tried to discern an image his brain kept telling him was there.

"Oh Light," L whispered as he finally saw what was there and he disappeared quickly back under the surface. There, almost completely hidden in the swirls of pattern, was the definite shape of a large ornate L. Even in the heat of the water he could feel a blush beginning to colour his cheeks, he hadn't expected to find a symbol of his partner's love for him in such a place. Hesitantly he placed his hands on the rim of the bath and rose up again to peer over the edge at the window once more. He had definitely not been mistaken.

L rested his head against the rim of the bath, his arms shifting to rest just over the top of it; he suddenly and very desperately wanted Light here. He took in a deep shuddering breath as he realised it wasn't a want it was a _need_, and if the sudden reaction of his body was anything to go by it was in more ways than one. For a moment he couldn't help thinking that Light could be there, shifting to be close behind him and placing gentle kisses on his neck and down his back, his arms coming round him to hold him even closer, his voice whispering all those things that would make L blush despite how much he loved to hear them...

In the definite solitude of the bathroom L made a small noise of dissatisfaction.

He had worked himself up and Light wasn't here. Attempting to ignore his sudden problem that was refusing to lessen even the slightest with all the motion of the water he attempted to continue on with his bath. It was difficult though as his mind stayed resolutely fixed on Light, his partner's face all too vivid in his mind adorned with the expression he loved the most and yet hated, the smile that made Light look all too angelic.

With a harsh movement he pulled up a lever, the water draining quickly from the bath. He reached for his towel as he stood and hurriedly wrapped the large sheet around him. He didn't want to give his problem even a moment's notice. He knew if he did then his control would snap. He didn't think his self control was so weak that he would need to do such a thing on his first day away from Light. He still gave a minute twitch though as the towel covered him, even that amount of sensation had been enough to keep him all too aware of his situation.

His own mind wasn't helping either. It was as if even his mental image of Light was just as evil in these situations as he was in real life. Every time he focused on an area of the room, be it floor, wall or back at the bath his mind supplied him with images that were far too delectable in his current state. Everything it seemed was something his mind could twist to such purposes.

"Light," L groaned through gritted teeth, not knowing if he called for his partner or was moaning in annoyance that he was doing this to him and didn't even know it. He made his way as best he could to the bedroom, annoyed with himself and Light despite the need that filled him suddenly. With forceful movements he dried himself off as best he could, collapsing down onto the side of the bed as he worked at his hair with the towel. A small wry smile appeared on his face as he thought about how Light would have tutted at this in disapproval of the harsh way he was suddenly treating his hair.

He reached out with one hand to search under the covers and pillows for his pyjamas, but his search was in vain. He gave yet another of his sighs of annoyance of the evening as he realised Wammy must have tidied it away, the bed had certainly much neater than he remembered it being when he left it. He glanced at the chest of drawers but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it wouldn't be in there, it wasn't for clothes. They could only have vanished back into the wardrobe, and L couldn't fathom why Wammy would have done it. Yet still he couldn't find them no matter how much he searched, even though he was hindered by his irrational need to keep the towel wrapped around him.

With great reluctance he rose up from the bed, towel just managing to hide the problem he was steadfastly trying to ignore and yet failing to, and made his way into the walk in wardrobe. He looked along the rows for his much desired clothing but couldn't find it, his inner tension growing with each passing second; he knew his control was gradually breaking. He wanted desperately to touch himself and he needed to put some sort of barrier in the way. It was more than just a matter of pride... it had been years since he had done such a thing without Light around, to a part of him it felt terribly, terribly wrong. Of course the feeling of it being a taboo only made it seem even more appealing.

Then his gaze fell on the white box left alone on one shelf and all thoughts of trousers and barriers faded away.

Almost in a daze he reached forward and picked up the box and held it close. It was the strangest thing, but yet having it close by made him feel as though he was closer to Light. It was so stupid he knew, yet he couldn't help but feel it. His brain then proceeded to betray him once more, filling his mind with the thoughts of how wonderful it would be to wear it again, and while he was relieving his building tension too...

In the quiet of the small room he groaned, and his eyes fluttered closed.

He knew his control had broken, and the heady anticipation and sudden nerves that filled him only made it seem all the sweeter a decision. Clutching the box to him he turned and fled the small room, wanting the comfort of the bed. A moment later and he was sat with the sheets pooled around his waist in a great mound that he was beginning to regret creating. The towel was left forgotten on the floor and the box was held before him in shaking hands.

With some trepidation L opened the box and lifted out the contents. For some minutes he simply sat running his fingers along the soft band of leather and over the small metal fixings. His need seemed to have lost at least a little of its urgency now he knew he was going to give into it. At last with a long intake of breath he raised the collar to his neck and fixed it in place. Closing his eyes at a sudden burst of pleasure that passed through him at the feel of it around his neck, he ran his fingers slowly along the collar and the skin of his neck. He shivered at the feeling and collapsed back onto the pillows behind him.

Unbidden his mind replayed the last time he had ever touched himself and how it had ended. All that had been done to him, for him and by him... He groaned and his eyes opened in surprise as his back arched off the bed slightly and his toes curled. L only realised his hand had moved to his erection and was finally giving it the attention he had been withholding himself when a burst of arousal forced him onto his side, his free hand gripping wildly at the sheets.

He had wanted to take it slowly, wanted to spend his time over this once he had decided to do this, but his body had betrayed him. Every cell was suddenly screaming at him for release, for the overwhelming sense of yearning he felt to reach some sort of completion. His fingers dug deeper into the sheets, almost clawing at the fabric as his other hand moved faster forcing a strangled moan from his mouth before he buried his head into the pillow. Despite accepting that he was going to do this, he still wanted to hide and it still felt so _naughty_.

L shuddered as that one word filled his mind, hearing it whisper through his other thoughts in Light's soft and silken undertone. The tone that had always promised him so much in the past, he tried to swallow past his suddenly dry throat as he remembered that he had been promised much for the future too. What he was wearing around his neck was an indication, the surest sign that the absolute dominant side of his partner was back.

His hips shifted back and forth without conscious decision, his hand pausing in its brisk pumping ceasing to swirl his palm around the head, gathering up the precum already gathering there and causing another moan to fight its way past his laboured breathing. Each breath sounding loud in his ears with his face buried into the pillow. He tried to imagine Light was with him, that his partner was in the room, that he was the one touching him, leaning over his back and smiling down at his partially hidden face in the way Light did whenever he felt he had even the smallest amount of control over L.

"Light," L groaned and he knew as he whispered the name that he was close. He could feel the tightness in his body increasing and he felt that if he moved too far in either direction he would fall, his mind filled with images and sounds from all he and Light had done in all the years they had been together. His eyes screwed shut as he curled up even further on the bed, closing in on himself as the weight, no the _tumult_ of arousal thundered through him sounding just as loud in his ears as his pulse.

He begged silently in his head for this onslaught of arousal to end, for the release and relief that he knew waited for him on the other side to arrive.

It never did.

Twice more in all too quick succession he felt like he was reaching the edge that if he could only reach that extra inch he would get what he so desired, but it never happened. For two long moments he lay there tense on the bed, hands clawing into the sheets as he lay curled up on his side, his harsh gasps for air loud in his ears and distracting his already addled mind as he tried to work out what was wrong. Then his eyes widened as the truth dawned, his memory supplying him with all the information he needed. He bit his lip as a sudden jolt of tension gripped him. He knew what he needed to do to 'solve' his problem, but he didn't like it one bit.

...

Light lay in the large and now very empty feeling bed, a small smile on his face as he idly read through the book held in his left hand outstretched before him. He was reading a rather fantasy novel that could almost be called a romantic novel, and to his great horror he was finding he was enjoying it. It wasn't the sort of book he would usually read, but his sister had sent it to him so he thought he should at least attempt to read it... he only wished he had known what he was getting into. He was only glad L wasn't here to hear the quiet laughter at the character's antics; it would have horrified him as much as it was horrifying Light himself.

His reading was cut short though as his ever present mobile rang quietly from its place on his bedside table. He looked up at it quizzically wondering who would be ringing him at this time. Slipping his bookmark into his reading material he sat up and picked up his mobile. He smiled as he saw the caller ID and he wondered at how much he and L had been in contact today despite his partner being away in the UK.

"Hello L," Light said as he answered at last and flopped back to lie on the bed, his head landing securely on the pillows.

"Hello Light," L whispered and Light could tell instantly that there was something wrong. He had rarely ever heard his partner's voice sound so quiet, and so _plaintive_ he realised.

"What's wrong?" Light asked, suddenly feeling a lot more serious and awake than he had been just seconds before. The scenarios that filled his mind were far from pleasant.

"You're what's wrong," L replied and all Light's worry turned into outright confusion as L continued on, "I can't... You've been planning this from the very beginning haven't you?"

Light frowned and rubbed at his forehead with one hand, he couldn't fathom what L was accusing him of, and in such emotional and breathy tones it was as if he was almost moaning down the line. It was quite unusual. Then the inkling of an idea dawned, there was only one time when his partner truly became emotional and if he was phoning him to accuse him of something it most likely meant that his habit of always wanting to order L around in such times, even when all his other domineering habits had stopped, had borne unexpected fruit as it were. In the privacy of the bedroom he grinned, he only hoped his reasoning was correct.

"Light," L moaned suddenly and Light realised he had probably be silent a bit too long, his smile faded... of all the times L had to find out it had to be when they were so far apart... but then if they hadn't been it was unlikely they would have found out.

"I want you to tell me precisely what is wrong L," Light replied, keeping his voice as steady as possible, "I won't get anywhere if I just _guess."_

The silence that descended then made Light smile. He knew now that he had been right. Unbidden a clear memory rose in his mind and his smile grew...

_"For you Light, I would kneel, crawl, beg, __anything__ if you told me to," L moaned, pressing up into Light's hand his own hands clutching at Light's back. He groaned as Light nuzzled at his neck, his force increasing._

_"Then come for me L Lawliet," Light commanded, a moment later he knew that L had been telling him the truth. He would do anything Light told him to._

... Light wondered how much L wanted to hear those same words right now. Truthfully Light had never thought his commands would ever become this efficient... but it seemed close to five years worth of enforcement had been enough for even L.

"L," Light said softly, "You're not speaking."

"How do you always know how to say these things?" L whispered, and now he knew what he was looking for Light caught all the heavy undertones to L's voice, he was desperately on edge. Compassion rose in Light then, despite the sudden thrill of power that chased down his spine, he decided that if L admitted what his problem was he wouldn't deny him what he needed not that there was any way he really would have...

"There is nothing that you could possibly say to me that should embarrass you," Light commented, wincing a little at how amused he sounded, true he was thrilled that he had gained such control but he was more concerned for L right now.

There was a great sigh from L at his words and Light wished desperately that he could reach through the phone and caress L's cheek, anything to alleviate this tension he was palpably feeling.

"I can't orgasm," L said swiftly, and Light had to hold back the smallest of laughs at the sudden logical tone L had adopted and the words he was choosing. He was always so formal when he was feeling his most vulnerable, "and after much thought over the past few years I have to say I blame you for it. You have somehow _trained_ me to be this way."

Light thought about how best to reply to L's terse comments, but it was L himself who spoke again, his voice quiet and strained revealing to his partner just how all this was affecting him.

"You must have known what you were doing."

"I see," Light managed to reply, "I must admit I never thought it would work on you. I never anticipated my order would become so tied in with your _orgasm_. I truly didn't."

"I wasn't asking for an apology, just..."

Light smirked then and in the privacy of the bedroom his eyes filled with sudden delight. L had inadvertently told him almost everything he needed to know. As he listened to L's plaintive breathing on the phone he shifted forward and quietly pulled open his bedside table drawer to peek inside before he slid over to look in L's as well. He grinned, and bit back a laugh as he saw what was plainly missing.

"Tell me," Light said, letting his glee show just slightly in his voice, "are you wearing the collar right now?"

"Yes," L whispered, and his reply was so quiet that Light would have missed it had he not been paying attention.

"Oh L," Light sighed, sinking back down on the bed, feeling a surge of his own arousal, "Oh _Lawliet."_

There was a sudden groan from L over the phone and Light smiled, he knew his partner was still as affected by his name being spoken by him as he had been the first time.

"I can assume then that it's more the tension you have at the moment and needing to tell me about it that is getting to you, rather than it developing?" Light asked, still smiling. He knew he had L now, as soon as the collar was mentioned he knew he had everything correct. L had actively sought an item that reminded him of Light, and not just that an item of such dominance. No, Light knew L couldn't hide without being a liar and he would never lie to him.

"Light_ please_," L whimpered, and his breathing suddenly became much heavier. It dawned on Light then that his lover must have been on the brink; or close to it throughout their conversation, from the sound of L's voice it hadn't lessened at all. It seemed the realisation that he was in Light's power no matter what was more pleasurable for L than he would care to admit.

"Are you touching yourself now?" Light asked, and from the sudden intake of breath on the other end of the phone he knew his sudden change and his words had had the desired effect, "If not I want you to do so, and I want to hear you moan for me L, let me hear you."

Light's own eyes closed briefly as he heard the sudden, strangled cry sound loud down the phone. Followed by a series of quiet whimpers that had Light biting his lip as his own pulse began to speed and his own arousal grew. To listen to L so out of control was delicious, to know he had power over when this ended was thrilling.

"Light... please," L groaned, his words escaping through his moans and filled with so much pleading that Light was tempted to give in, but he didn't. He wanted his partner to wait for just a little longer, he needed to hear more.

"No L," Light forced himself to reply, "Not until you moan louder. Not until you stop holding back and let me hear how you are feeling completely."

L gave a long shuddering moan that sounded loud from the phone as he responded to Light's words. Followed by several drawn out moans that made Light's pulse race and yearn for his lover to be here before him so he could see him acting like this, and touch him to make him sound like this. However he couldn't, all he had was the orders he could give and the precious sounds he could hear over the phone. He took in a deep shuddering breath as he heard another long sigh of pleasure whisper down the phone and across his ear. He couldn't resist reaching down and stroking his erection gently, a wry open mouthed smile forming on his lips as he thought how easily L had transferred his problem to him as well.

He could feel his arousal making his blood pound and the hand that held the phone to his ear shook slightly from the mounting pleasure. He may not have been even slightly aroused when L phoned, but the call had left him closer to the edge than he had realised. Not until this moment had he understood how much he had missed dominating L, missed telling him what to do, ordering him about and using him in any way he wanted with the knowledge that L yearned for him to do it.

"Oh L," he gasped, and he grinned at the strangled groan he received. The sound of such plaintive need and heady pleasure brought Light close to the edge himself and he decided he had made L wait long enough.

"L, are you listening to me?" Light asked, putting as much force into his voice as he could despite his own need, and his sudden increase in attention to his own erection despite being determined that he would not cum until he had heard L scream out in pleasure as he came. He wanted to hear L lose absolute control and whimper his name as his mind collapsed.

"Yes," L managed to reply, his voice strangled and filled with the sudden hope that he was getting what he had craved for so long.

"Then L. Come for me," Light ordered, his voice filled with all the force he could muster.

The sudden exultant cry from the other end of the phone, so loud it could almost have been considered a scream, was one of the most beautiful sounds Light had ever heard. He even thought he could hear L's fingers tightening around the phone, and as he pictured in his mind just what his partner would be looking like in that moment, emotion written across every inch of his body everything about him completely open. It was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen and just like the continuing noises he heard it affected him deeply. He finally let his partner hear how much he was aroused and moaned long and low into the room as he too came. His eyes fluttered closed as it swept through him, passing through each cell like a white hot heat and fracturing his thoughts apart, however briefly.

For a few moments silence descended again, both attempting to recover the balance they had both lost. Merely listening to the sound of the other breathing on the phone, enough of a presence for them both to know the other was still there, still close in some way.

"So," Light said at last, his near permanent smile of that evening returning, "did that help?"

"Yes," L sighed, and he sounded completely relaxed.

"Good," Light commented, "I'll call you tomorrow so we can talk properly. Just go to sleep now and don't you dare worry about this in the morning."

"That's debatable," L whispered, his voice already sounding as drowsy as he usually was after such activities.

"Try not to at least," Light said as kindly as he could, knowing full well that L would anyway, it was in his nature to, "Sleep well L."

Light hung up then, not waiting for L to reply. He knew that L was close to sleep already and he wanted to ensure that he did manage to sleep. If he woke up and his mind was allowed to dwell on what had just occurred... Light didn't want that at all.

Though Light had to admit that this new information was very interesting indeed. He reclined back more completely on the bed, his hands moving to behind his head. He knew he would have to change the sheets before he slept, but for now he was happy to lie there and contemplate all he could do now. Things were certainly getting more interesting again.

...

He stared out the rain splattered window down at the cars below. He wondered at the lives of each of them that passed and marvelled at how quickly they could be snuffed out... and how little they suspected it. People were so closed minded in his opinion, but then, if they weren't he wouldn't have been stood there all safe and secure in the knowledge that he was untouchable and unsuspected. So, he supposed, he owed something to them at least. Turning his gaze up towards the orange, rain cloud filled night sky, his lip curling at the obvious pollution, he thought back again over all that he had done to become active once more.

He had to make sure that no-one would suspect him.

With a small nod of his head he decided that he was indeed safe. He could continue on with this safe in the knowledge he wouldn't suddenly drop dead because of Kira, not instantly at least. He laughed then, his eyes suddenly glinting with dark humour. This was going to be such a fun game.

"I wonder," he whispered, his eyes flicking to focus on the ghostly reflections of themselves in the glass in front of him, "Will I find you first Kira, or will you find me? This is all quite... exciting."

With another small laugh he turned and strode towards the door just visible in the darkened room. It was time to become active again, time to find his first real victim in years.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N; May I advertise the works of my wonderful friend Dotti55, she has recently begun writing and her stories are well worth the read. I hope that you will take some time to go and read them.

Please read and review!

* * *

Chapter 12

Matsuda stood hidden in the shadows of the garden, almost invisible if you had looked out the windows of the house before him. Though there was no-one in the house, indeed no-one in the houses next to it either. Yet, he was still ensuring he was being careful, his eyes set with uncharacteristic seriousness as he slipped forward to approach the house Mello had sent him to. The long coat he was wearing moving with surprising silence as he moved forward. Technically he could have gone right up to the front door, picked the lock and gone in. While not being the most legitimate of exercises for him it was perfectly legal. However he didn't think the local police force would take kindly to a man breaking into their supposedly dead Detective Inspector's house. Even if the simple white card with the L logo on emblazoned on it meant he had a legal right to be wherever he chose to be. However it wasn't written down in any law and that made Matsuda cautious, even if this was the police force that held L in the highest esteem.

He glanced towards the houses on either side as he moved even closer. He had seen their occupants go out, and indeed both stood in darkness, but he had learnt well not to take such things for granted. When you have the trio as your teachers and L's contact network along with the highly changed mafia Mello now controlled as their helpers... you learnt to catch even the slightest glimmer and learnt quickly. With a sigh he finally reached the backdoor and considered his actions, his caution running high through his veins.

"I doubt anyone can ever set traps and defences as fiendish as them," Matsuda whispered, his voice barely above a breath and he began to pick the lock on the back door. It was a Yale lock, so of course had all the intricate details that meant that they were nearly unpickable... however Matsuda knew better. The trick to picking one was to have Mello breathing down your neck. If you didn't know when he was suddenly going to appear no lock suddenly seemed like a barrier; Matsuda knew he still scared easily but he didn't see why Mello had to use it against him. He smiled in relief as a second later the lock clicked open and he was allowed inside. Somehow he felt like the worst part was done.

A few moments later and he was creeping through the house, a quiet laugh leaving his mouth. He was very grateful to whoever had decided the alarm didn't need setting. It made his life so much easier. Careful to make as little disturbance as possible he slipped through the house and up the stairs. His search of the bedroom was a quick, his gloved hands moving hurriedly over surfaces to find what he was looking for. Finding the hairbrush slightly buried under several magazines he took a few hairs from it happy to see that they had their follicles. He had been sent here for Detective Baker's DNA after all, without the follicles the hair would be useless.

Job done he stood and surveyed the room around him, the cluttered surfaces and the lack of anything that told you of the man's personality. It was a very strange combination. He took out the small camera he had secreted in a pocket of his long coat and began to document the room. He knew perhaps he should have done this before looking for the brush, but he had not moved anything from their original places. He knew he hadn't. He was careful to get close ups of all the surfaces and the titles of the books around the place. Most of the pictures would probably be useless, but he was well used to the trio finding meaning in the most unlikely sources to know to give them as much as he could. Any potential clue was always worth the collection of a hundred other useless ones.

He knew he had become a far greater detective than he ever could have been before the Kira case because of the trio. Their guidance and faith in him had made him surer of his gut feelings towards things, his emotive personality fit well with their logic. They had never took his apparent immaturity and ever present, and he knew now, often naive optimism to mean he was stupid. He might be their helper but that very fact alone showed they trusted him. They had given him the confidence he had lacked during the Kira case. So he did not worry about doing things slightly out of sequence, it had done no damage, and he did not come for fingerprints.

Deciding to complete the task he had opted to do he went round each room and took pictures of them too. It was only a small house though and soon he found himself in what had to be Detective Baker's home office which was almost messier than the rest of his house had been.

"Ah," Matsuda gasped as his eyes fixed on the computer before him and he realised what else he could provide the trio and he forced the camera back into a pocket before hurriedly searching through the coat for something more; whispering in a slight moan as he did so, "Where is it? Where is it?"

He beamed as he pulled a strange looking hard drive out of a hidden pocket, an almost octopus like array of cables fixed to it. He sat fidgeting slightly as he waited for the desktop computer to boot up, all the cables attached to his own hard drive connected to the computer. As the windows logo appeared on the screen before him the hard drive beeped and he knew that it had begun to copy the computer wholesale onto the hard drive. The trio would have everything at their fingertips should they ever want it. The whole process took only a matter of moments, and Matsuda was once again curious as to just what Wammy had designed to make the process so fast. It just didn't seem possible to him. He sighed and secreted it back into a pocket; he doubted he would understand even if Wammy did tell him. One of his continuing failings he felt was being completely stupid when it came to computers.

Checking that he had left no trace of his presence he left through the back door and relocked it. No-one would ever know that he had been there. With a smile of satisfaction he slipped back onto the street at the front and began the short walk to his car.

...

L sat staring down at his cup of tea, breakfast forgotten as his mind dwelled on the shocking events of the night before. It was all very well for Light to tell him not to worry about it, how could he not? His mind kept dwelling on all that Light could ask him tonight, or even do... He shuddered in his seat at the thought of all Light might be tempted to do now that he had this control. Last night had been proof enough that his partner had been delighted with this development even if he had been concerned. He doubted his cunning partner would just have an innocent talk with him, there had to be more to it...

Wammy sighed as he entered the room with a small selection of breakfast goodies and saw the expression on L's face. He could tell that something was bothering L, there could be no other reason why the sugar bowl sat untouched and L hadn't even looked up to great him.

"Good morning L," Wammy said softly, placing the tray down in front of his ward and sliding into another chair at the table, "What's troubling you?"

Wammy had to bite back a laugh at the startled look he received. He knew then that this was nothing to do with L's cases, his work with the trio. It was with Light, and was most likely something involving their unusual relationship. Anything else than that and L would have already told him.

"I see," Wammy commented, a small smile appearing on his face as L's eyes widened almost imperceptibly, "You have no need to worry about whatever Light may have said or done. He does all he does because he loves you. He would never want to upset you, so whatever you are worrying about cannot happen."

L stared at his guardian. There were times when his astute abilities surprised even him and this was one of them. The calmness with which he talked about such things also shocked him deeply, he was never quite comfortable with how Wammy viewed his and Light's relationship. He seemed fine with it, and he still remembered the box... but he was such a private person.

"L," Wammy continued seeing his ward's evident dilemma, his voice unusually firm, "Stop worrying."

L couldn't help but smile and he finally took a sip of tea, grimacing in surprise as he realised it was both without sugar and cold. A disgusting combination. He frowned as he heard Wammy laugh quietly.

"Will you drive me to the meeting today?" L asked, his voice soft as he fixed another cup of tea as Wammy brought himself back under control, "I need to arrive there for 2 o'clock."

"Of course, you didn't have to ask," Wammy replied, before continuing on picking his words carefully, "Do you still plan to dress appropriately for this?"

"There is no other way I could appear," L sighed, reaching for a chocolate filled croissant, "She would not believe I was capable unless I looked the part. I could prove I was anyway, but I do not wish to waste precious time doing so. I want to find her daughter Wammy."

"Will you want help getting ready?" Wammy asked, reaching for a croissant of his own as L gestured for him to do so.

"No, I have had enough practice with Light thank you," L said swiftly, "He always ensured I was dress 'appropriately' for social gatherings of all the local parents so our children had people to play with. I would be a poor student if I didn't know by now."

Wammy couldn't help but smile at the slightly despondent tone of his ward, but it was nothing like it would have been before Light's interference. The person before him had certainly grown up a lot in the past few years, it wasn't immediately noticeable but there was a change in his bearing and the set of his eyes. He had developed some of that lazy self assurance that Light always had, perhaps being out in the real world had shown him how easily he could do such things and he had gained confidence because of it. Whatever it was Wammy more than approved, and he was grateful he got to see his ward develop into such a strong man.

...

L sighed wanly as he pulled the brush through his hair trying, as he and Light had been for the past few years, to get his hair into some sort of order. He knew it was a losing battle, but he felt orderly hair would suit the role he was trying to portray... namely the role he had been performing since he was a child.

He wondered again why he felt he so desperately had to meet this woman, he had tried to rationalise it before he flew to the UK but now as he prepared to leave he knew he hadn't been telling himself the truth. Perhaps it was because he had a daughter of his own now and had already felt the loss caused by losing someone you loved, even if he had got him back again... perhaps he just wanted to share this comfort.

Giving up on his hair he turned to put on the suit. It was a beautiful suit he had to admit, Light had gotten it specially tailored for him so it fit perfectly. The colour was a perfect choice, a deep blue that wasn't quite navy that L loved, it was his favourite colour after all. Light had also been sensible enough to ensure the shirt didn't have a collar to annoy him, it also conveniently meant he didn't have to wear a tie. The jacket was cut in such a way that only a small section of shirt was visible anyway, a tie would have been next to useless and would have ruined the line of the jacket. So L had to admit there was nothing wrong with the suit and it was incredibly comfortable to wear, just as long as he didn't try to sit as he usually did in a seat... a nuisance but possible.

The real problem however was the shoes and the socks that went with them. He hated confining his feet; years of walking barefoot had made shoes too foreign a feeling, no matter how long he wore them for. He persevered though, with a child of four he had to. If he didn't wear shoes Eleanor wouldn't and he would never hear the end of it from Light if he gave their daughter that particular bad habit.

So he put on the shoes without too much of inner grumbling and stood before the mirror to check his appearance. Then with some reluctance he straightened up and studied his appearance, he looked immaculate. There was still something missing though, and gave a small laugh before going in search of Wammy, picking up his laptop case as he went. He was shocked he was going this far, but then he was never one for half measures.

He headed straight through Wammy's for the kitchen; he knew his guardian wouldn't be in his office. He always seemed to spend his free time with Ryuk in the old shinigami's favourite part of the house. He ignored the startled expressions of the people he passed, taking them only as a measure of how effective this outfit was going to be. He didn't think about what the reaction would be to his attire when he entered the kitchen though.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ryuk said almost instantly, his voice filled with disbelief. L froze as Ryuk's shocked eyes fixed on him the old man looking as though he was about to hyperventilate at seeing L in a suit. To see the affable man stood there so shocked was quite the surprise, he was almost always seen with a smile on his face and an apple somewhere close by... or a cooking book.

"It's necessary for my work today," L explained, and then couldn't resist adding, "I have to pretend to be a detective."

"But you are a detective," Ryuk muttered, looking even more confused. Wammy stood to one side watching the exchange with a small smile, these were the two people he felt so protective of and he couldn't help but feel a small laugh bubble in his throat at Ryuk's still persistent innocence. Becoming human had done a lot to improve the shinigami's quality of life, the shinigami king had done him a service instead of punishing him.

"I never chose to look like one though, and never needed to before. Except now I find I need to meet a client," L laughed, before turning towards Wammy, "Do you have any glasses with plain lenses?"

"Glasses L?" Wammy asked, looking nonplussed.

"I think it will add to the look," L commented, and he frowned as both Wammy and Ryuk laughed. He couldn't see what would be so funny.


End file.
